Parliament Speaker: positive decision on EU candidate status will “strengthen” Gov’t
Papuashvili noted some representatives of the domestic opposition claiming Georgia should not receive the candidate status during their visits to European capitals was “not news”. Photo: Shalva Papuashvili’s Facebook
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said a “positive” decision on the European Union membership candidate status later this year would “strengthen” the Georgian Government ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary Elections.
In his interview with Imedi TV, Papuashvili noted some representatives of the domestic opposition claiming Georgia should not receive the candidate status during their visits to European capitals was “not news” to the Georgian authorities.
The comment came after Khatuna Samnidze, the Chair of the Republican Party opposition group in the Parliament, last week “confirmed” a part of the opposition was lobbying against the country being granted the status.
This is the process when [the opposition representatives] see that the ship they steered against Georgia is sinking and the chances of stopping Georgia from being granted the candidate status are diminishing”, Papuashvili said.
“Now we see that one group is trying to escape from this ship - but they had settled comfortably [on that ship] and did exactly the same thing that they are now accusing others of - and there is another group that is trying to maybe crash this ship into Georgia and damage the process of receiving the candidate status”, the chief Georgian legislator continued.
Papuashvili claimed a part of the opposition “understood” that in case of the country receiving the status the opposition would be “completely discredited as an anti-European force”, with the development leading to the strengthening of positions of the Government.
We will implement all the plans set by the [ruling] Georgian Dream [party] in 2020, and of course this will strengthen the Georgian Government, and we will go to the [2024 Parliamentary] Elections with this strengthened position and the candidate status”, he noted.
Papuashvili alleged a part of the opposition had “already done damage to the country” by lobbying against the country being granted the candidate status.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday told the Global Gateway Forum the country remained “determined in its choice to align” with the European Union and its values, “despite the challenges Georgia faces”.
Khatia Dekanoidze, an opposition MP from the Euro Optimists faction in the Georgian Parliament, on Wednesday said she could confirm “mixed messages” from domestic opposition groups over the country’s European Union membership candidate status were “causing concerns” among its foreign partners.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday claimed “all issues” raised during the September visit of Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative and the Vice President of the European Commission, around the Georgian Government's fulfilment of the bloc’s conditions for granting the country its membership candidate status had been “addressed”.
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”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said he hoped efforts made by the Government for meeting recommendations for the country to be granted the European Union membership candidate status would be “appreciated” with a positive decision on it at the end of the year.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Georgian Parliament Speaker, on Wednesday said the calls by the Council of the European Union to Georgian political actors to ensure “constructive cooperation” for the country’s European integration “primarily refers to the destructive wing” of domestic opposition.