Ruling party head: MP comments “confirm” opposition lobbying against EU candidate status
Samnidze on Tuesday alleged “specific representatives” of the opposition were “hindering” the process of Georgia receiving the status. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
Tweet 
Share
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said Khatuna Samnidze, the chair of the Republican Party opposition group in the Parliament, had “confirmed” that a part of the domestic opposition was lobbying against the country being granted the European Union membership candidate status.
Samnidze on Tuesday alleged “specific representatives” of the opposition were “hindering” the process of Georgia receiving the status.
“I have information that [Samnidze] was referring to specific entities, in particular, it is the [opposition] United National Movement party, Lelo party and Nika Gvaramia [the founder of Mtavari Arkhi TV channel]”, Kobakhidze claimed.
We know for sure that these subjects went to Europe - and not only in Europe - where they lobbied against the candidate status. What we have been asserting for so long, it was practically confirmed by the representative of the opposition”, he concluded.
Following on her initial comments, Samnidze on Wednesday said unspecified political figures from the domestic opposition advising Georgia’s European partners behind closed doors to grant the EU membership candidate status to the country only after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections were “undermining” the opposition’s message that the country “needs the status”.
Lawmakers from the ruling Georgian Dream party on Wednesday urged Khatuna Samnidze, the head of the Republican Party in the Parliament, to name domestic opposition representatives she accused on Tuesday of taking actions to “hamper” Tbilisi’s obtaining of the European Union membership candidate status in December.
Khatuna Samnidze, an opposition MP and the Chair of the Republican Party, on Wednesday said unspecified political figures from the domestic opposition advising Georgia’s European partners behind closed doors to grant the EU membership candidate status to the country only after the 2024 Parliamentary Elections were “undermining” the opposition’s message that the country “needs the status”.
Khatuna Samnidze, an opposition MP and the Chair of the Republican Party, on Tuesday said that “specific representatives” of the opposition were “hindering” the process of granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday claimed a part of the domestic opposition was “doing everything to hinder” the country’s European integration and disrupt upcoming decisions on whether it would receive the European Union membership candidate status.