European Council President: decision on accession negotiations with Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia to start by end of year
At a press briefing with the Moldovan President, Michel said he hoped a “positive decision” would be made in the talks. Photo: Reuters
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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.
At a press briefing with the Moldovan President, Michel said he hoped a “positive decision” would be made in the talks.
The EU official noted the European Commission was due to publish its report on the accession process with a focus on European perspectives for the three countries as well as states of the Western Balkans.
“I would like to confirm that I intend to raise this issue before the European Council by the end of the year. This means that by the end of the year, the Council must make a decision on the issue of starting the process of accession negotiations with these countries”, Michel said.
The official stressed the decision on the matter would be a “political” one and take into account the Commission’s report.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and Enrique Mora, the Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, on Wednesday discussed the country’s European Union integration prospects and security challenges amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Georgia’s foreign office said.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili and Josep Borrell, the Vice-President of the European Commission and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Wednesday reviewed matters related to Georgia’s European integration in Brussels.
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.
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has praised a “historic day” for Georgia with his signing of the country’s bid for European Union membership on Thursday, saying the move “continues the efforts of our ancestors, which was aimed at unification in a common European family.”
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.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the United National Movement opposition party’s participation in, or absence from, Parliamentary work made “no essential difference”.
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”.
Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday claimed the plan of the opposition United National Movement party was to ensure the country did not receive the European Union membership candidate status and use the outcome to replace the Government.
Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, on Thursday said the “only path” of ensuring Georgia's sovereignty and independence ran through the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Monday said the country “definitely” deserved the European Union membership candidate status but noted it was a “political decision that must be made by the [bloc’s] 27 member states”.