Georgia shares EU foreign policy, but with condition that country’s national interests “won’t be harmed” - PM

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Wednesday said his country shared and joined the European Union foreign policy “as much as possible”, with the condition that the country’s “main national interests” would “not be harmed”.

Following the European Commission's recommendation for the European Council to grant the country the EU membership candidate status, Garibashvili noted there were “issues” that could be improved, adding the country’s European and American colleagues understood that some of these topics were “very sensitive” for Georgia.

• European Commission recommends granting Georgia EU membership candidate status

At a press briefing, the PM emphasised that Georgia “has its own national interests”, with the country’s one of its main priorities being the non-recognition policy towards Georgia's Russian-occupied territories.

We are guided exclusively by the national interests of Georgia”, Garibashvili stressed.

The European Commission said it was recommending the EU candidacy for the country with nine conditions, ranging from efforts to combat disinformation and foreign information manipulation about the EU and its values to the further alignment of the country’s foreign and security policies with the bloc, to reforms in the judiciary, electoral and human rights areas.