EU not granting Georgia candidate status would be ”another strategic mistake” - PM
The Government head claimed 11 out of the 12 conditions set by the European Commission for granting the country the status had been fulfilled, and said he hoped the country would receive the status by the end of the year. Photo: Government Administration
Tweet 
Share
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said if the European Union did not grant the country the membership candidate status this year, the decision would be “another strategic mistake” on the part of the bloc.
In his speech at the Georgian Parliament to present the annual report on the work of the Government, Garibashvili noted the status was “symbolic” but also “important” for the next stage of the country’s EU integration.
I assure our European counterparts and friends during meetings that if they do not grant Georgia the status of a candidate country for the European Union, it will be another strategic mistake on the part of the European Union”, Garibashvili told lawmakers in reference to last year’s decision to only grant Georgia a European perspective.
He also called the latter decision a “big mistake”, noting the status had not been granted to the country despite it being “ahead of [fellow Associated Trio states] Moldova and Ukraine [which received the status] in all parameters and are still ahead today”.
The Government head claimed 11 out of the 12 conditions set by the European Commission for granting the country the status had been fulfilled, and said he hoped the country would receive the status by the end of the year.
Our European counterparts openly and loudly said [in last year’s decision] that Georgia would become a member of the European family. We have not heard such a vocal statement in the last 30 years. This, it can be said, is really a great achievement and recognition of our team's work, which certainly needs due recognition”, Garibashvili noted.
“We have proven over the last 10 years that we are a truly result-oriented Government that delivers specific results for our citizens”, he continued.
Garibashvili also stressed his Government expected a “reasonable and wise” decision from “our European friends”, adding granting Georgia the status would be “one of the main steps forward” in reducing polarisation of the political scene in the country.
The argument I made to my [European] colleagues is the following - one of the main conditions that has not been implemented, again due to the destructive sabotage and boycott of this irresponsible [domestic] opposition, is to reduce polarisation. It is probably impossible to end - there is polarisation in every country - but one of the main steps forward to reduce it would be the granting of the status”, Garibashvili told MPs.
“But the main thing for us [...] was the historic decision - and this is [also] how our European colleagues assessed it - of [the European Commission] granting Georgia a European perspective, which, it can be said, was not even possible to dream about during the previous [United National Movement] Government, because it was a completely abstract, unattainable goal and dream”, he concluded.
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.
Georgia and its people, as a “proud and freedom-loving nation”, share the same values and principles of freedom and democracy that “form the foundation of the enduring friendship” with the United States, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday at the official reception held at the US Embassy in Tbilisi on the occasion of the Declaration of Independence of the USA.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Integration Committee, on Tuesday urged the domestic opposition and civil society organisations to “abandon destructive actions” and “stand by the Government” to ensure the European Union membership candidate status for the country later this year.
The European Union representation in Georgia on Tuesday said the reforms outlined in the country’s 2014 Association Agreement with the bloc were “important steps” towards the country’s final membership in the EU.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said the “destructive war party” - a reference to some of the domestic political opposition and their alleged partners abroad - had experienced a “complete fiasco” in its plans to “open a second front” in Georgia amid the war in Ukraine, which he said had been “one of the main goals” of the forces.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday told the Parliament he had confidence that the country had “more supporters than opponents” in Europe in its efforts to be granted the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
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.