Ruling party official: UNM planning against Georgia’s EU candidate status to force Gov’t change
Mdinaradze said the idea of UNM’s decision on lifting the party’s Parliamentary boycott this week having been made for making a contribution to the fulfilment of EU recommendations for the status through legislative work was “not convincing”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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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.
Mdinaradze said the idea of UNM’s decision on lifting the party’s Parliamentary boycott this week having been made for making a contribution to the fulfilment of EU recommendations for the status through legislative work was “not convincing”.
[T]heir plan is [for Georgia] not to receive the [EU membership] candidate status. [In contrast] [o]ur plan is to become a full-fledged member of the European family with dignity, [by] standing on two feet [and] following the recommendations - and we will definitely be able to do this”, Mdinaradze said.
“If there is a political and unfair decision towards Georgia again, the Georgian public will see it, and [they will also see] whose contribution [results in that outcome]”, the GD official noted in reference to the European Council granting the country a European perspective - instead of the full candidate status - last year, and the alleged role of UNM in this year’s decision on the country.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
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.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday said the country’s Government was “doing its best” to facilitate its European integration and highlighted the “complicated” nature of the process.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Sunday called the fact of Viola von Cramon, a member of the European Parliament, joining a rally organised in Tbilisi by a domestic political party on Saturday “unacceptable”, adding it “once again” showed her “attitude towards the Georgian state”.
Gia Volski, the Vice Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Sunday said the member of the European parliament Viola von Cramon, was “part of a plot” against Georgia.