EU Council President vows support for Georgia’s EU integration, says “much dependent” on meeting conditions
Charles Michel has welcomed the most recent legal efforts by the Georgian authorities to meet the EU candidacy priorities. Photo: Government of Georgia press office
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Charles Michel, the European Council President, on Thursday pledged his body’s support for Georgia’s European integration efforts, saying “much” in the process would be dependent on the country’s implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the bloc last year for granting its membership candidate status to Georgia.
In his comments for domestic Imedi TV channel, the EU official welcomed the most recent legal efforts by the Georgian authorities to meet the priorities, and said the European Commission was expected to present its conclusions on the Government’s efforts to meet the conditions in the autumn.
He added the European Council would decide on the status in December, based on the Commission’s recommendations.
In his comments last week, Michel said a “positive momentum to reform" had been created by last year's decision by his body to grant Georgia a European perspective, and noted he saw Georgia in the bloc in the future.
Michel also welcomed Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s “reconfirmation” earlier this month that his Government would not seek to adopt the bill on transparency of foreign influence, retracted in March following public protests and criticism by domestic opposition, non-governmental organisations and Western partners of the Government.
The European official also welcomed the Georgian Parliament’s decision on June 21 not to pass the deoligarchisation bill in the third reading as a positive step, after the draft was described as having involved "personal", instead of "systemic", approach by the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe.
Michel also responded to the pardoning of the head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi channel by the Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on June 22 by saying the decision was an “essential” step towards depolarisation of the political environment in Georgia.
The interim, oral report by the European Commission on June 22 said Georgia had “fully met” three of the conditions, “partially met” seven, showed “limited progress” on the deoligarchisation and “no progress” on media pluralism.
Responding to the report the next day, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said it had “confirmed the efforts” by domestic authorities to meet the recommendations, noting it had not reflected the Georgian Parliament’s most recent work on the conditions. He also pledged an “intensive communication” with the bloc for the European Commission’s final assessment to “fully reflect” the efforts by the country’s authorities to obtain the status.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Friday said the European Commission’s oral report on Georgia’s implementation of the 12-point conditions outlined by the former body last year for granting the country the European Union’s membership candidate status had “confirmed the efforts” by domestic authorities to meet the recommendations.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Thursday pardoned Nika Gvaramia, the imprisoned head of the domestic Mtavari Arkhi channel, who was convicted last year for improper commercial deals in 2015 and 2019 during his time at the helm of the Rustavi 2 channel.
Olivér Várhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, on Thursday said Georgia had fulfilled three out of the 12 priorities outlined by the European Union for granting the country its membership candidate status, in his oral interim report on Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova on the implementation of the EU reforms.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the ruling team would take into account requests of European partners and not approve the domestic bill on deoligarchisation - designed to address one of the conditions for Georgia to be granted the EU membership candidate status - until December.
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.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said failure to grant the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year would be a “bad signal”.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday claimed domestic authorities had “never attacked” MEPs and “only responded” to “absurd, unfounded claims” by “certain” European lawmakers.
Georgia and Moldova on Tuesday signed memorandums on cooperation in economic, technical and scientific fields and on boosting investment and export opportunities between the countries, as part of the second session of the Joint Intergovernmental Commission on Economic Cooperation.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said the country’s authorities were ready to implement all conditions for receiving the European Union membership candidate status, and noted “we hope our efforts will be appreciated and soon Georgia will join the European family”.
Charles Michel, the European Council President, on Thursday said the Council granted Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.