Ruling party head: “consistent” movements towards Europe “most important”

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday expressed his wish to see a “clearer, time-bound” plan for accession of countries to the European Union, but added for Georgia the “most important thing” was to “consistently move forward” towards Europe.

“Charles Michel [President of the European Council] named a specific year of accession - 2030 - which has given reason for optimism, at least for the Balkan countries. [North] Macedonia has been waiting for accession for 18 years, [and] has been a candidate country for 18 years, although the matter of its accession has not been actively discussed. [...] However, the European Commission later rejected this and noted that it is wrong to talk about the year 2030”, Kobakhidze said.

The main thing for us is to consistently move forward towards Europe. For this we need the implementation of appropriate reforms [and] economic growth. In all directions we have tangible progress - this is the main thing for us and the answer to the speculations we hear from the [domestic] opposition”, the ruling party head noted.

Mamuka Mdinaradze, the Executive Secretary of the ruling party, on Wednesday said Georgia would “definitely” become a “full-fledged and worthy” member of the European family, and pledged the Government would “do everything” for the outcome.

Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Wednesday said he hoped the decision of European Union member states on Georgia’s membership candidate status would be “positive” and the country would get “closer” to the bloc’s membership.