Georgia’s “rightful place” in Europe, country deserves EU candidate status - PM
Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest. Photo: Government press office
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Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday addressed the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest by stressing his country’s “rightful place” was in Europe and added Georgia “deserved” to receive the European Union membership candidate status by the end of this year.
Attending the gathering of conservative activists and officials across the world, hosted by the American Conservative Union, Garibashvili said his Government expected a “far-sighted and fair” decision by the bloc on the status, following Tbilisi’s official application for membership last year.
Commending “large-scale reforms” by the Georgian authorities to “ensure rule of law, building of democratic institutions, economic progress and social justice”, the PM highlighted his country was “closer than ever” to its goal of becoming a full-fledged member of the bloc.
Georgian delegation members attending the conference in Budapest. Photo: Government press office.
He cited last year's Rule of Law index by the World Justice Project that ranked Georgia first in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, and noted the country had been placed ahead of several NATO and EU member states in the latest World Bank Governance Index.
Georgia is a regional leader in the International Transparency Corruption Perception Index. We are ahead of 11 EU countries on the Heritage Foundation's Economic Freedom Index. Georgia has also ranked first out of 120 countries in the global ranking of State Budget Transparency in International Budget Partnerships’ 2021 Open Budget Survey”, said the PM.
The Conference opening also involved keynote addresses by Miklós Szánthó, the Director General of Hungary’s Center for Fundamental Rights, Matt Schlapp, the Chairman of the ACU, and Hungarian PM Viktor Orbán.
The event’s agenda involves talks on conservative topics ranging from religion to current cultural discourse and family.
Georgian Ambassador to Hungary, Tamar Liluashvili, on Wednesday said Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili would hold high-level bilateral meetings during his visit to Budapest, where he would “once again” highlight the “existing close relationship” between the two states.
Revaz Javelidze, the Head of the Government Administration, on Wednesday said Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s speech at the Conservative Political Action Conference would focus on the “very important” Georgian values.
Hungarian Ambassador to Georgia Anna Maria Siko on Wednesday hailed Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s decision to accept the invitation and participate in an “important conference” - the Conservative Political Action Conference, in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday left for Hungary’s capital city of Budapest to participate in the Conservative Political Action Conference, a conference involving conservative officials and activists and hosted by the American Conservative Union.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday highlighted the “power of faith, family traditions, eternal and universal values” in his keynote address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday praised his Hungarian counterpart Viktor Orbán as a “wise and visionary national leader” defending the interests of his “brave” country, in his address to the ongoing Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest.
Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday praised his Georgian counterpart by saying Georgia under his Government was an example of a state maintaining “values” while living under a “shadow of Russia”.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday highlighted the importance of peace on the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and called the conflict “the most dramatic” since World War II, in his keynote address at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference in Hungary’s capital city of Budapest.
Dear Prime Minister Orban, Dear Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen, it is a great privilege for me to be here, in Hungary, the true heart of Europe and one of its oldest countries, in this charming capital of Budapest. I share with you the admiration for its rich history, and the fight that Hungary has conducted for centuries, to protect Europe and the free world from numerous enemies.
Rati Ionatamishvili, an MP from the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday called Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s address at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Budapest this week a “speech of a national and state leader” that touched on “all important issues” facing Georgia.
The ruling Georgian Dream Government has done a lot, over the last ten years, to bring Georgia “even closer” to Europe, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Saturday during his speech at the opening ceremony of the Europe Day event in the country's capital Tbilisi.
The partnership dynamics between Georgia and Portugal and prospects of deepening the existing cooperation were discussed on Monday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Helena Carreiras, the Minister of National Defence of Portugal.
Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia's Ambassador to the European Union, on Tuesday said the country’s Government was working to “open all doors” to get “as close as possible” to the bloc, in a meeting of ambassadors of Georgia to EU member states in Berlin.