Opposition “made great efforts” to “hinder” Georgia’s EU candidacy - Parliament official

Mikheil Sarjveladze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's Committee on Human Rights, on Sunday, said the domestic opposition had made “great efforts” to “hinder” the process of Georgia receiving the European Union membership candidate status.

Georgia deserved the status last year when the country was granted European perspective, while Ukraine and Moldova received the candidate status, Sarjveladze told the journalists, and stressed Georgia “deserves [the status] now too”.

The Parliament official slammed those who did not “agree with the opinion [that Georgia deserves candidate status]”, saying “it is in their [own political] interests that our country cannot obtain the status”.

The European Commission will assess Georgia’s progress in implementing the EU priorities, outlined by the bloc for granting its candidate status to the country, next week. The decision on the country’s candidacy will be announced in December.