PM Garibashvili signs Georgia’s application for EU membership on “historic day”

History has deemed the European choice of the Georgian people as its strategic aim, the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday with his signing of the country’s application for receiving the candidate status of a European Union member state

The new political situation should be used not only by Georgia, but also by the European Union, Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chairman of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, said on Wednesday in response to the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party to apply for the country’s EU membership immediately.

Georgia’s path to Europe is irreversible, Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said on Wednesday in response to the decision by the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party to apply for the country’s European Union membership immediately.

The Government of Georgia is applying for the European Union membership, the ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party chairman Irakli Kobakhidze said on Wednesday.

It is a historic day for Georgia – we are signing an Application for EU Membership on behalf of the country.

I believe that we will be taking the journey of European Union integration together with our Abkhazian and Ossetian compatriots, the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday with his signing of the country’s application for receiving the candidate status of an EU member state.

“The European path is an irreversible choice of the Georgian people,” Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday as the country officially applied for European Union membership.

"Slovenia supports EU membership for Georgia," Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša wrote on Twitter on Thursday, as the Georgian government officially applied for European Union membership for the country.

Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken told Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday his country would continue to support Georgia in its Euro-Atlantic integration aspirations.

Regional security threats and Georgia’s bid for European Union membership were topics of discussion between Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani and US Senator Ben Cardin on Friday.

During a telephone conversation, the officials exchanged views on Russia’s ongoing military aggression against Ukraine and the regional security challenges.

Georgia has “very good” chances to obtain the status of a European Union membership candidate state, ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party Head Irakli Kobakhidze said on Friday, expressing hope the Union would make the decision soon.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili welcomed the EU Council’s decision to ask the European Commission to examine applications for Union membership submitted by Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine on Twitter, stating “This new chapter in our relations motivates us to accelerate our reform agenda”.

The French newspaper Le Figaro launched a poll yesterday on whether the Associated Trio countries - Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia - are “destined to join” the European Union.

Readers can vote on the question through the official website of the paper. 

The Committee on European Integration of the Parliament of Georgia on Friday supported the draft resolution on the country’s accession to the European Union.

A Government meeting was held at the Government Administration on Monday to discuss eight issues.

Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova deserve “European family membership” to an equal degree, Bogdan Aurescu, Romania's Foreign Minister, said before a meeting of European Union foreign ministers in Brussels on Monday.

Georgia has made “significant progress” on its path to European Union membership over the recent years, Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Tuesday at the Parliament.

Irakli Garibashvili, the Prime Minister of Georgia, on Friday said he placed “great importance” on “further strengthening” ties and cooperation with the United States and the European Union, pledging to do his “best” to ensure an “even closer partnership” with the US and the bloc. 

“All genuine results” achieved on Georgia’s European integration path are the “merit” of the current government of the country, prime minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Tuesday at a press conference in Tbilisi with Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement. 

Poland gave “due assessments” to the Russia-Georgia 2008 conflict and its potential consequences and future threats amid a lack of “proper” international reactions in the aftermath of the war, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on Monday at a press conference with her Polish counterpart Andrzej Duda in Warsaw. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday marked the first anniversary of the country’s formal application to join the European Union by saying the “historic process” of EU integration had become “irreversible” with the bid and would “soon be crowned” with full membership in the bloc.

Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili will on Tuesday have “important meetings” with officials at the European Commission ahead of the body’s reports on the country’s European Union membership candidate status, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia’s representative to the bloc, has told the media.

The implementation of the European Union conditions for granting Georgia the membership candidate status was discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between the Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and Oliver Varhelyi, the European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement.

European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday said the Council of the European Union must make a decision on starting the process of negotiations on the accession of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to the bloc by the end of this year.

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said a part of domestic opposition parties was “doing everything” to prevent the country from receiving the European Union membership candidate status by the end of this year and use the development for “sparking unrest” in the country. 

The European Union’s Foreign Affairs Council on Monday confirmed Georgia had made “significant progress” in “many key reforms” carried out in the country’s efforts for integration into the bloc, and highlighted the roles of rule of law, human rights, media, civil society and independent state institutions as “important elements” for each country aspiring to join the bloc. 

Georgian ambassadors in European Union member states, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and officials from the country’s foreign office on Wednesday gathered in Berlin to discuss coordination and efforts for Georgia’s EU membership candidate status. 

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday claimed all 12 conditions outlined by the European Council last year for granting the European Union membership candidate status to Georgia would be fulfilled by the end of June. 

Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Thursday said Tbilisi had done “everything” to obtain the European Union membership candidate status and the country “deserved” it.

If the European Union “unfairly rejects” Georgia’s application for receiving the bloc’s membership candidate status for the second year running, the decision will lead to “disappointment and scepticism” about the bloc in the domestic public, Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Monday. 

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Thursday accused unspecified domestic and foreign political forces, non-governmental organisations and individuals of being engaged in “immoral tactics” of “separating the Government from the public”, claiming the approach “fits the Russian hybrid playbook” and was against Georgia’s “vital interests”. 

Rati Ionatamishvili, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the European Union’s latest Human Rights and Democracy in the World report had confirmed Tbilisi “deserved” the bloc’s membership candidate status last year. 

Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Wednesday said a positive decision on a European Union membership candidate status for Georgia could be the “only fair ruling” on the subject.

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said consultations regarding the fulfilment of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status later this year were ongoing.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said there would be “no reasons” for the European Union bodies to reject granting the country the bloc’s membership candidate status, after noting the Government’s approval on Thursday of an action plan for deoligarchisation to address one of the conditions for receiving the status.

Gitanas Nausėda, the Lithuanian President, on Thursday said his Government was “strongly motivated” to “politically support” Georgia obtaining the European Union membership candidate status later this year. 

Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday said he was confident the country would be granted the European Union membership candidate status this week in a “historic decision” by the European Council.