EU commissioner: national consensus on EU conditions “necessary”

Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday said national consensus in Georgia was “necessary” for the work on the European Union’s conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status. 

In a press conference following his meeting with Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili, Varhelyi noted the goal of joining the bloc was “bigger” than domestic political disagreements, and said he hoped all political parties in Georgia would use the opportunity to work on the priorities for the status.

We are ready to help you in this process, and I hope that all political parties and members of the political elite will see that this is a unique opportunity, a unique proposal for Georgia. Hopefully everyone will see it and it will be regrettable if you don't take advantage of this chance”, Oliver Varhelyi said.

In his turn, Garibashvili stressed he was “sure” Georgian authorities would finish working on all EU conditions for the membership candidate status “soon”.

• PM highlights importance of “European future” in meeting with EU commissioner

On June 24, the European Council granted the membership candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and said it would be ready to grant the same status to Georgia once the outstanding priorities outlined by the European Commission would be addressed by the Georgian government.