Head of Georgia’ EU mission presents official application for EU membership
By submitting an official application signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Council of the European Union was asked to start the relevant procedures for Georgia's accession to the Union. Photo: Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
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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.
By submitting an official application signed by the Prime Minister of Georgia, the Council of the European Union was asked to start the relevant procedures for Georgia's accession to the Union.
In these utterly difficult times, truly HISTORIC moment 4 my country ????????❕
— Vato Makharoblishvili (@AmbVatoM) March 3, 2022
????Today Georgia???????? officially applied 4 EU???????? membership.
Honored 2 have presented official application 2 ???????? PermRep to ???????? Philippe Léglise-Costa, current Presidency of ???????? Council @Europe2022FR @francediplo pic.twitter.com/3lDO6UBTO9
France holds the Presidency of the Council of the European Union since 1 January 2022.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili signed the country’s application for EU membership on Thursday, announcing Georgia was closer to the Union “as never before.”
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.
"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.
Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili has signed the application for European Union membership on behalf of the country, noting the “historic day” in his address to citizens.
It is a historic day for Georgia – we are signing an Application for EU Membership on behalf of the country.
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.
COREPER II agreed to invite the EU Commission to present an opinion on each of the applications for EU membership submitted by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, the French delegation to the European Council tweeted.
The message to the aggressor Putin must be clear that Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova are future members of the European Union, Member of the European Parliament Petras Austrevicius told the Georgian Public Broadcaster on Tuesday.
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 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.