Georgia's EU candidacy should come “based on reforms”, not as “reward for releasing a criminal” - ruling party Sec-Gen
Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday addressed the party conference in Batumi. Photo: Kakha Kaladze’s Facebook
Tweet 
Share
The European Union should decide on Georgia’s membership candidate status “based on the reforms” implemented in the country and not as a “reward” for the country’s authorities “releasing a criminal”, Kakha Kaladze, the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Tuesday in reference to the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili.
Addressing a party conference in the country’s western coastal city of Batumi, Kaladze, who also serves as the Mayor of capital Tbilisi, claimed the Government was doing its “utmost” to fulfil the 12 conditions outlined by the bloc last year for granting it the status in 2023.
Expressing gratitude to party members for efforts in “building a democratic and European-style state”, Kaladze stressed “patriotism, preservation of traditions, protection of our identity, culture and history” as the “main values of Georgian Dream”, saying the ruling team was “guided by these principles on the path of European integration”.
“I am one of those whoe lived and built a career in Europe”, he told the conference in reference to his time as a football player in Italy between 2001-2012.
I know well what Europe is - European values - and that is why I want my country to become a member of this big family. However, this should not happen in exchange for [the EU] demanding release of a criminal, or triggering disorder and chaos in the country”, he said.
The GD on Tuesday held the party conference in Batumi. Photo: Kakha Kaladze's Facebook.
The European Commission is scheduled to issue its recommendations to the European Council in October whether to grant the membership candidate status to Georgia, following the latter’s decision last year to grant Georgia European perspective.
The issue of Saakashvili, who is serving a sentence for a case of abuse of power he had been convicted on in absentia, before his return to Georgia in 2021 and subsequent arrest in the country, has seen the Georgian Government make allegations of some European parties and officials being lobbied by the former President’s United National Movement party to ensure his release.
The imprisoned former official’s legal team and family have argued Saakashvili requires transfer abroad for medical treatment, and argued the care he is receiving at a Tbilisi clinic is inadequate, while penitentiary authorities and clinic staff have claimed the former President to be disobeying the medical team’s instructions and neglecting his diet requirements.
Last month the European Parliament adopted a resolution that said Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and the founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, was “responsible” for the controversial circumstances around the health of Saakashvili in detention.
Kakha Kaladze, the Tbilisi Mayor and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said “any attempts by the radical wing” of the domestic opposition to replace the current authorities “through chaos and revolution” were “doomed to fail”.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday highlighted the links between Ukrainians and Georgians in understanding the “cost of peace”, in his end-of-year message on the work of his office.
Kakha Kaladze, the mayor of Tbilisi and the secretary general of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said it was “important to maintain peace and tranquillity” in the country and promote economic development, and stressed Georgia would “not open a second front” amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
The time for changing the government with “revolutionary scenarios” is over in Georgia and all those who try to illegally and unconstitutionally “bring disorder” in the country will be punished in compliance with the law, Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party said on Wednesday.
The implementation of reforms for meeting the European Union conditions for granting Georgia its membership candidate status was discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between the Georgian parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and Co-rapporteurs of the Monitoring Committee of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday claimed the opposition United National Movement and Strategy Agmashenebeli parties were engaged in “radicalisation and extremist activities” against the ongoing work for fulfilling the European Union priorities for granting Georgia its membership candidate status.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday told a conference of the party in the country’s west Georgia needed “development, stability and peace”, adding “no matter how much pressure there is, we will not allow turmoil in the country”.
Charlie Flanagan, the Chair of the Irish Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, on Tuesday said the future of Georgia lay “firmly” in the “European Union family”.