Georgian President: EU “cannot afford to lose Georgia”, “have Georgian citizens disappointed again” in membership bid decision
In an interview with CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, Zourabichvili noted Georgia needed to receive the status later this year. Photo: Presidential Administration
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Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Wednesday said the European Union “cannot afford to lose Georgia” and to “have Georgian citizens disappointed again” in the upcoming decision on whether to grant the country the bloc’s membership candidate status.
In an interview with CNN’s chief international anchor Christiane Amanpour, Zourabichvili noted Georgia needed to receive the status later this year.
I think we have great chances to get into the European Union, and we know that the roads to the EU and NATO are very parallel, and Georgia has been very active in its relations with NATO. [...] Our connection to NATO is very close. But today probably the EU path seems closer because Ukraine has in fact accelerated the path towards European integration”, Zourabichvili said.
“The EU is a very turning point. Georgia needs to get the candidate status. We have been given the European perspective, which for Georgia is very important. In this soft war that we have with Russia, [...] EU cannot afford to lose Georgia, to have Georgian citizens disappointed again”, she continued.
The Georgian official also admitted that she felt “total surprise” when she became aware of the attempted mutiny in the ranks of the Russian troops in Ukraine by the Wagner Group private mercenaries last weekend.
One could not not be concerned, especially when a regime is entering an end period and clearly, Putin is not mastering everything today - and certainly not mastering the war in Ukraine”, Zourabichvili noted.
The Georgian President said she did not see an “imminent” military threat to her country, remarking that Putin “lacks the resources” to open another front along the Georgian border.
The President of the European Council Charles Michel on Thursday said a “positive momentum to reform" had been created by last year's decision by the European Council to grant Georgia a European perspective, and noted the the country’s future was in the European Union.
The role of support of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development in Georgia’s European integration was discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili and the members of the board of directors of the Bank.
The French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna on Thursday said her country’s Government was “clearly stating” that “Georgia's future is European”, in remarks ahead of a meeting of European Union member states’ foreign ministers in Stockholm.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday will attend the coronation of Charles III and his wife, Camilla, as King and Queen of the United Kingdom at Westminster Abbey in London, the Presidential Administration said on Thursday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday highlighted his Government’s task to “save the country and protect the interests of the citizens” in the reality of changes in the rules-based international order and a “real” threat of nuclear conflict on the backdrop of the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the Georgian authorities would "not even leave an excuse for anyone" to block the country from being granted the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said some domestic opposition parties’ refusal to engage in the implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status was a “step against depolarisation” of the domestic political environment.