Gov’t “doing its best” to advance Georgia on EU path - Parliament Committee Chair
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, said the Government was “committed” to the country’s EU integration. Photo: Parliament press office
Tweet 
Share
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.
Botchorishvili said the work required “much more effort” than simply the fulfilment of the priorities outlined for the country to obtain the European Union membership candidate status.
In comments on Georgian officials’ ongoing meetings in Brussels around the matter, the lawmaker stressed the discussions served to “focus on priorities and prospects” following the change in Georgia’s status from an associated country to the group of states included in the EU’s enlargement policy package, in the wake of the European Council’s decision last year to grant it a European perspective.
She added the consultations were also “important” ahead of the European Commission's forthcoming report on Georgia’s alignment with the EU framework, which is expected before the end of this year and set to be used as a recommendation to the Council on whether to grant the country the membership candidate status.
We know that it will take years for Georgia to become the country we want it to be. All steps are being taken [by the Government] to implement necessary reforms, to make progress [on this path], and this is reflected in the reports issued by the European Commission”, Botchorishvili said in reference to the Commission's 57-page analytical report on Georgia, released in February and focused on the country’s alignment with EU laws in 33 chapters.
She also claimed “fake and distorted” information had been sent by unspecified groups from the county to its European partners and, in some instances, led to “[undeserved] critical comments” from the latter towards Georgian authorities.
In response to a question from domestic media about the criticism from the country’s Western partners, the Committee Chair issued a challenge for “anyone [to] name a concrete example of the Government taking an anti-Western step”.
When asked about the example of the controversial bill on transparency of foreign influence - backed by the ruling Georgian Dream party but met by criticism from domestic civil groups, political opposition and Georgia’s Western partners as a “Russian law” before its eventual recall earlier this month - Botchorishvili said the Georgian Parliament had the “right to discuss” the initiative.
“If a specific bill harms the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration process, relevant foreign institutions can react to it in their reports and point to such threats. However, the bill has been rejected, and the topic is now closed”, she told the press.
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.
Georgian officials representing various state bodies and agencies on Wednesday launched consultations with the European Union as part of the bloc’s enlargement package, the country’s foreign office said.
The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council of the Slovak Republic on Saturday adopted a resolution “fully” supporting the European perspective of Georgia and the activities of the European Union and Slovakia, both at the diplomatic and political levels, which would promote the accomplishment of this perspective, the Georgian Parliament press office said.
Seeking for a pragmatic policy of EU enlargement replaced the so-called Euroscepticism that some European Union countries had. Now Georgian society and political leaders must consolidate to achieve the common goal of joining the EU, Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Thursday.
Strengthening the cooperation within the framework of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership was discussed on Friday in Brussels in a meeting involving the Georgian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Teimuraz Janjalia and representatives of the European External Action Service, the European Commission and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday said a part of domestic opposition parties was using developments related to the country’s European Union membership candidate status as a “tool for their own political struggle and nothing more”.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Wednesday said the visit of the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to the country this week was an “opportunity” to demonstrate Georgia’s progress in efforts for European integration.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, discussed Georgia-EU relations, the country's European perspective and expectations for obtaining bloc’s candidate membership status this year, in her meetings with French officials, the Committee said on Friday.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said a delegation from the country would highlight Tbilisi’s “significant” efforts to back Ukraine amid the ongoing war and the Government’s work to implement the conditions for the country’s EU candidacy later this year at the ongoing Francophonie Parliamentary Assembly of Europe in Athens.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Monday highlighted the “strategic importance” of the European Union enlargement at the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the EU Chairpersons held in Namur, Belgium.