Georgia is ready to receive EU candidate status - Hungarian PM

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán on Thursday said Georgia was ready to receive the European Union membership candidate status.

In his comments made before the Session of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, Orbán told the Georgian-based Imedi TV channel that “Georgia is a good country, [and] is in good shape”, expressing hope the Committee would recognise Georgia as a future member state of the bloc in the Summit summary.

The Hungarian PM visited Georgia earlier this month with his wife and the representatives of his Government, ahead of the upcoming European Commission report on Georgia’s implementation of the EU conditions for obtaining the bloc’s candidacy in December. 

• Hungarian PM says EU’s 2022 rejection of membership candidate status for Georgia “very disappointing”

As part of his visit to the country, Orbán held a face-to-face meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili, and the Georgian and Hungarian authorities signed 10 agreements on cooperation between state agencies of the two countries, from technical cooperation to ties in finance, defence, justice and more.

During his visit, the Hungarian official said his Government was “very disappointed and angry” at the European Council’s 2022 decision not to give Georgia its membership candidate status while granting it to the countries that were “far behind” in terms of their qualifications.