EU Commission recommendation on Georgia’s candidacy “recognition” of Gov’t efforts to “ensure people’s choice” - Justice Minister

Rati Bregadze, the Georgian Justice Minister, on Friday said the European Commission’s positive recommendation to the Council this week to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status in December was a “recognition” of the efforts by the Georgian Dream Government to “ensure the European choice” of the country’s population. 

Pointing to the 2017 Constitutional changes under the current Government, which required the country’s authorities to take actions for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, the official hailed the Commission’s decision as “fair” and “particularly gratifying and important” for Tbilisi. 

In his press comments, the Minister also said he expected the European Council would grant Georgia the requested status at the end of this year, paving the way for the country to proceed with its efforts for final integration into the bloc. 

Responding to a France 24 interview with President Salome Zourabichvili this week, in which she claimed next year’s Parliamentary Elections in Georgia could lead to a coalition Government, Bregadze stressed "everything is dependent on the will of voters”. 

He also said the health of the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has been receiving treatment in a Tbilisi clinic since May 2022, had “improved significantly”, and he would be transferred back to prison following doctors’ recommendation. 

Saakashvili, who holds Ukrainian citizenship, was arrested in Tbilisi in 2021 on his clandestine return to the country after eight years, and is serving his six-year-term for abuse of power while in office in two separate cases, while three other cases involving him are still pending.