Parliament Committee Chair calls Borrell visit “important” for dialogue with EU, claims “significant steps” made for bloc’s candidacy
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday responded to Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative, to Georgia. Photo: EU Integration Committee Facebook
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Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Thursday described the forthcoming visit of Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative, to Georgia this week as “important” for the dialogue between the country and the bloc, ahead of the latter’s decision in December on whether to grant Georgia its candidate status.
The Parliamentary official also claimed Tbilisi had taken “important steps” to gain the status, and added the Government was expecting a “proper evaluation” by the EU of its efforts in the process.
This visit will be used as much as possible to take a step forward for Georgia's strategic goals, which means that, first of all, there will be a dialogue with the EU on current developments in the [South Caucasus] region and, in general, Georgia’s role in the bloc, and vice versa. Of course, we will talk about the country’s European integration and the progress achieved on the path”, she told the Georgian Public Broadcaster.
Botchorishvili added the Georgian Government had been in “constant” communication with the bloc and received both “positive assessments” and “criticism” about implemented and ongoing reforms and recommendations. She also said the state authorities were taking steps to “respond to all problematic issues” raised by the bloc.
The Parliament official claimed statements made by a part of the domestic opposition on an alleged lack of merit in the country meeting EU conditions for the status pointed to their “wish for the country not to obtain the bloc’s candidacy”.
Borrell is set to visit Georgia later on Thursday, with official meetings planned for Friday.
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