PM Garibashvili signs application for EU membership on behalf of country

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

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

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.

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.

The Head of the Georgian Mission to the European Union, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, on Thursday formally presented the official application of the country for European Union membership to Philippe Léglise-Costa, France’s Permanent Representative to the EU.

Georgia's submission of an official application for European Union membership marks a new stage of the country's relationship with the EU and in the process of its integration into the Union, the Head of the Georgian mission to the EU, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, said in an interview released by Imedi channel on Thursday.

The signing of Georgia’s European Union membership application by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was “symbolic”, Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia, said on Friday.

Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani commented on Sunday on Georgia’s European Union membership prospects, stressing the country must do its best and use the opportunity to receive EU candidate status.

Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili and his Polish counterpart Mateusz Morawiecki discussed the security environment in Eastern Europe and the ongoing military actions in Ukraine on Monday.

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”.

Senator Ben Cardin, the Chairman of the United States Helsinki Commission, as well as Co-Chairman Congressman Steve Cohen, ranking members of the Commission Sen. Roger F. Wicker and Congressman Joe Wilson praised the “strong” support shown by the Georgian Government to Ukraine on Tuesday.

The current events in Ukraine, Georgia's European integration and bilateral relations were discussed by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte in a phone call on Wednesday.

The Georgian Government has already started taking steps for “individual dialogue" with European Union member states as part of the process of the country's EU membership bid, David Zalkaliani, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, said on Friday.

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry expects that the questionnaire related to the country’s European Union membership bid will be delivered next week, Mari Narchemashvili, the Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia told the Georgian Public Broadcaster on Friday.

Romania supports Georgia's aspiration to become a member of the European Union, Răzvan Rotundu, the Romanian Ambassador to Georgia, said at a meeting with the Georgian Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on Monday.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has convinced the Georgian population that the country will benefit more from closer ties with the European Union and NATO than with Russia, a new survey released on Thursday by the US National Democratic Institute and CRRC Georgia said.

Georgia's accession to the European Union is a “civilisational choice” of the country’s citizens and is not simply a matter of the Government, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a World Economic Forum panel in Davos on Wednesday.

Georgia's application for European Union membership and the involvement of the country’s Investors Council in ongoing domestic reforms were in the focus of a meeting of the body on Tuesday.

A new letter by the Georgian Investors Council, addressed to Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, calls for a “unity” between “countries that share the European Union’s values” in supporting a granting of EU candidate status to Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.

Georgia is requesting the European Union membership candidate status the country has “deserved” through its 30-year “struggle for democracy” and reforms implemented by the Government over the past nine years, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday.

“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. 

Oliver Varhelyi, the EU commissioner for neighbourhood and enlargement, on Tuesday recognised the “active work” of the Georgian government on fulfilling the conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status.

The conference of parliamentary committees for union affairs of parliaments of the European Union on Tuesday adopted a declaration welcoming the June decision of the European Council to grant the EU membership candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova and a European perspective to Georgia. 

The future of Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia and of their citizens lies within the European Union, a document published on Tuesday by the Council of the EU said following a meeting of Government ministers involving the bloc’s member states.

The Georgian Government has ensured “all possible” progress for the country’s European integration over the past decade, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday at his joint briefing with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer. 

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday briefed Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, and heads of missions of European Union member states in the country over his Government’s efforts to ensure the bloc’s membership candidate status later this year. 

Edmondo Cirielli, the Italian Deputy Foreign Minister, on Wednesday pledged his Government's support for Georgia’s European integration in a Tbilisi meeting with his Georgian counterpart Teimuraz Janjalia, the Georgian foreign office said. 

Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed Georgia did not need the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union last year for it to receive the membership candidate status because the country “deserved” to receive the full status in the decision.