Ruling party head pledges progress on EU conditions
In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted meetings with Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative, last week in Tbilisi had revealed four subjects on which the European Commission wanted to “see progress by the end of September”. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Iraikli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said the Georgian Government was “doing its best” to make sure “not even the slightest excuse” was left for the country to be refused the European Union membership candidate status for the second year running.
In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted meetings with Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative, last week in Tbilisi had revealed four subjects on which the European Commission wanted to “see progress by the end of September”.
The Georgian Government will fully respond to the expectations of the European Commission in all four directions”, the ruling party official said.
Kobakhidze said the four topics included deoligarchisation, amendments to the domestic Law on General Courts, amendments to the Election Code, and legislation related to the recent establishment of the Anti-Corruption Bureau, the Special Investigation Service and the Personal Data Protection Service.
He said he hoped the European Council would make a “fair decision” on granting the status to the country in December, which he said would “remove the artificial excuse from the [arsenal of the] radical opposition to incite radicalism in the country and will qualitatively reduce the so-called polarisation [of the domestic political scene]”.
Georgia’s European integration process was discussed on Monday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Olaf Scholz, the German Chancellor, on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
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.
She stressed EU bodies granting candidate status to Georgia later this year and opening negotiations with candidate countries, together giving them a “clear roadmap” to EU membership, was the “only way” to go, and added “it requires strong support, and we count on you with this regard”.
Glenn Bedingfield, an MP in the Maltese Parliament, on Monday said Georgia should receive the European Union membership candidate status in December.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Monday highlighted his Government's “maximum effort” in its work to meet the priorities outlined by the European Union last year for granting Tbilisi its membership candidate status, in a meeting with Charles Michel, the President of the European Council.
Rati Ionatamishvili, an MP of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday highlighted the ruling party’s “political decision” to proceed with the approval of the action plan on the deoligarchisation bill.
Georgia’s imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili on Wednesday said the public “must all work together to ensure that the Georgian Government resigns” if the country failed to receive the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday said the country’s achievements deserved “a favourable decision” from the European Union and stressed granting Georgia the candidate status was “the only course of action”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said he had addressed Claire Bazy Malaurie, the President of the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, with a request for legal opinions on several documents aimed at fulfilling the European Union’s priorities for Georgia to receive its membership candidate status.