Georgia's integration into the European Union and the steps taken by the Georgian Government in this direction were discussed on Thursday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Luxembourger counterpart Xavier Bettel on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly in New York.
Garibashvili emphasised the importance of Luxembourg’s support and expressed his hope that it would maintain political support at all stages of the country's accession to the “European family”, the Government Administration said.
The officials reviewed the dynamics of implementation of the EU conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status, with Garibashvili noting that his Government was “closely” cooperating with the European Union and the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe in the process.
Great meeting w/@Xavier_Bettel, PM of ????????, in frames of #UNGA78. Discussed ????????’s progress w/ implementation of 12 recommendations & expressed gratitude for ????????'s unwavering support towards ????????'s accession to ????????. Also, affirmed strong interest for coop in spheres of common interest. pic.twitter.com/xpn6HFlmuo
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) September 22, 2023
The Government head stressed that the country deserved the candidate status and was expecting a “merit-based, fair” decision from the European Union later this year.
The meeting highlighted the “fruitful” cooperation between the two countries in both bilateral and multilateral formats and international organisations.
Garibashvili added that Luxembourg enjoyed a leading position in the ranking of open and transparent economies in the world, being an “advanced” centre for business, research, logistics and information technology development, and Georgia was interested in deepening cooperation with Luxembourg in this direction.
The meeting also focused on the security challenges in the Black Sea region and the world, and the situation in the Russian-occupied territories of Georgia.
Garibashvili thanked the Luxembourger Government for its “steadfast” support of Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty.