Georgia’s EU Representative: bloc “positively assesses” implementation of conditions for candidate status
The official also highlighted the “historic” event of the Georgian Government formally applying for European Union membership this year, a development he said had started an “irreversible process”. Photo: MFA of Georgia
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Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia's Representative to the European Union, on Monday said the bloc “positively assessed” the ongoing implementation of the conditions set by the European Council for granting the country the membership candidate status.
Makharoblishvili made the remark in his comments at the Ambassadors Conference, an annual event bringing together the heads of Georgian diplomatic missions abroad and units of the foreign office. The official said the event was a “unique and very important” opportunity for ambassadors to assess the past year, analyse achievements, challenges and make plans for the coming year.
“In this context, this year is particularly important, because the year started with a lot of difficulties and challenges. We face Russian aggression, unjustified occupation [and] aggression towards our friend [and] partner state [Ukraine]”, the diplomat noted.
This has brought geopolitical changes not only to our region, but to Europe in general, and to the entire world. There have been many changes [brought to] the agenda [of] Brussels, and the past year has been full of challenges in this regard”, Makharoblishvili said.
The official also highlighted the “historic” event of the Georgian Government formally applying for European Union membership this year, a development he said had started an “irreversible process”.
“We are, in fact, today in the [EU] enlargement basket - we have been moved from the neighbourhood basket to the enlargement basket - and any process that is going on with the EU is already in the context of [its] enlargement”, he continued.
Now we are undergoing a very important period. The European Council and the European Union have set the priorities, with the fulfilment of which Georgia will receive the status of a candidate country, and I am sure, I have a modest expectation that this will definitely happen in the near future. The mood in Brussels is positive”, Makharoblishvili concluded.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday noted the “difficulty” of the past year on the international scene and noted developments throughout 2022 had compelled the country’s Government to ensure efforts in territorial integrity, expansion of partnerships and promotion of peace, security and prosperity in the neighbourhood.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday stressed the importance of the recently signed Black Sea submarine cable international project and said the endeavour was a “Georgian initiative", in remarks to the Ambassadors Conference in Tbilisi.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday said the past year had been marked by the “very important, positive” event of the “success” of the country’s European integration, in comments at the Ambassadors Conference, an annual event bringing together heads of Georgian diplomatic missions and units of the foreign office.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Monday said the European Union and European friends had “directly stated” that Georgia “belonged to the European family” and the country would “definitely” become a member of the bloc, in comments summing up the foreign policy efforts of the Government in 2022.
Georgian Foreign Ministry responded on Monday to the refusal of the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili to attend the Ambassadors Conference 2022 in Tbilisi and the statement of the Presidential Administration about the “gross violation of the generally recognised and established rules of state and diplomatic protocol” during the event organised by the foreign office earlier today.