Parliament Committee Chair - Georgian agenda “more active” among EU member states in 2023

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said her participation at the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for European Union Affairs in Madrid had demonstrated the issue of Georgia was on the agenda of EU member states “even more actively” than last year.

Botchorishvili said she had observed a “growing” number of countries that were “vocal” in mentioning Georgia and claiming the 2022 decision by EU bodies against granting the country the bloc’s membership candidate status was “unjust and has to be changed”.

She also said meetings at the event had highlighted Georgia’s importance in “geopolitical context” and called it a “good result” for emphasising the role of the country’s EU integration for the bloc’s enlargement policy and security.

The Committee Chair added the interest of EU member states had “increased” and their views were “much more in favour of Georgia” around the question of whether the state should be granted the candidate status.