Georgian parliament speaker: “unfriendly” groups outside Georgia doing everything to impede country’s EU integration
The radical opposition groups have been “convincing” the EU representatives that Georgia does not deserve the EU candidate status and such “hindering factors” inside and outside the country are a “direct fight” against Georgia’s European aspirations. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday said there were “unfriendly” groups outside Georgia making every effort to hinder the process of the country's European integration process.
“Nothing good” could be expected from these “unfriendly” groups, neither an activity nor a statement or a decision, Papuashvili said while commenting on the Polish European parliament member, Anna Fotyga’s announcement on organising a panel discussion 'the oligarch, Russian links, the war in Ukraine and the future of Georgia', adding that “the network" trying to keep the country [Georgia] under the influence of "Russkij Mir" [Russia] had to be "exposed".
The radical opposition groups have been “convincing” the EU representatives that Georgia does not deserve the EU candidate status and such “hindering factors” inside and outside the country are a “direct fight” against Georgia’s European aspirations, noted the parliament speaker, adding that the Georgian government has been working in a “very difficult” period, trying to “somehow neutralise the threats".
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili told the country’s parliament on Friday the “destructive” domestic opposition had “attacked” and “insulted” in a “radical form and expression” Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, following the Georgian visit of the country’s “true friend”.
Georgian prime minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday called on domestic opposition groups and lawmakers to end “destructive actions and sabotage” against “national interests” and join the work for obtaining the European Union membership candidate status for the country.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said messages delivered by Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, in his visit to Georgia this week were “promising” for Georgia’s European integration process, a development he said “irritated” the domestic “radical” opposition.
23 members of the European Parliament have signed a letter calling the EU to consider sanctions against individuals who enabled 'degrading treatment' of the incarcerated former Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili.
Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said Georgia had satisfied the technical preconditions for the European Union candidate status “long time ago” and in terms of technical readiness, it has been a leader of the associated trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
Khatuna Samnidze, an opposition MP and the Chair of the Republican Party, on Tuesday said that “specific representatives” of the opposition were “hindering” the process of granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.
Khatuna Samnidze, an opposition MP and the Chair of the Republican Party, on Wednesday said unspecified political figures from the domestic opposition advising Georgia’s European partners behind closed doors to grant the EU membership candidate status to the country only after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections were “undermining” the opposition’s message that the country “needs the status”.