Time in Tbilisi: March 29, 2024 19:31
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Friday responded to the newly published European Commission report on the country’s alignment with the European Union by stressing the document had “once again demonstrated” his country deserved the membership candidate status as a “top reformer”.
The 57-page analytical report on Georgia was released on Thursday, focusing on the country’s alignment of EU laws in 33 chapters following the country’s application for membership last year.
EU Commission has published an analytical report on ????????'s alignment with the EU acquis. The document clearly reflects our country's progress in the ????????integration path& once again demonstrates that????????, as a top reformer deserves to be granted a candidate status.
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) February 3, 2023
It completed the Commission’s opinion on Georgia’s application for a member status, assessed the country’s overall capacity to uphold obligations of membership and offered guidance on the work ahead under the different acquis chapters.
Congratulating the Government and citizens of the country on the “very positive” report, Pawel Herczynski, the EU Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday said the bloc was ready to assist the country move forward on its European integration path.
But from my point of view, the overall assessment is very positive”, Herczynski said.
Georgia applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and was granted a European perspective by the European Council in June, along with priorities to address for gaining the bloc’s candidate status.
Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday congratulated the country’s Government on a “positive report” on Georgia’s alignment with the European Union, released by the European Commission on Thursday.
A new survey released on Thursday by the National Democratic Institute and CRRC Georgia has shown 81 percent of Georgian citizens support the country’s aspirations of joining the European Union, with 73 percent backing NATO integration.
Relations between Georgia and the European Union and the implementation of the bloc’s conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between Maka Botchorishvili, the Head of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, and Aron Emilsson, her counterpart in the Swedish Parliament.
The Georgian Government has ensured “all possible” progress for the country’s European integration over the past decade, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday at his joint briefing with visiting Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday said he hoped the country’s European partners would consider the results of its implementation of the European Union conditions for granting it the membership candidate status, after the release of a European Commission report that noted its progress in the work.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Friday said Georgia was ahead of both Ukraine and Moldova in “fundamental questions” related to their alignment with the European Union, in comments on the European Commission's new report on the three countries aspiring for EU membership.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday said the European Commission’s “positive” assessment of the country’s alignment with the European Union framework was “very important”, following the publication of the report that evaluated the progress of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in their work for membership in the bloc.
The “principal” directions of cooperation between Hungary and Georgia were discussed on Friday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Balázs Orbán, the director of the political department of the Prime Minister of Hungary.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Monday said the European Commission's latest report on Georgia showed the country should have received the European Union membership candidate status last year.
Irakli Kadagishvili, the Chair of the Rules and Procedural Issues Committee of the Parliament of Georgia, on Tuesday said the legislative body would focus on facilitating implementation of the European Union conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status in its spring sessions.
Announcement of United National Movement, the largest opposition party in the country, to boycott Parliamentary work in response to Tbilisi City Court ruling on the imprisoned former President Mikheil Saakashvili is a part of the party’s “continuous efforts” to “hamper” Georgia’s European integration process, Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee from the ruling Georgian Dream party, said on Tuesday.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said it "did not matter" whether the opposition United National Movement party would take part in Parliamentary work, following UNM Chair Levan Khabeishvili's announcement on Monday of the party's boycott of the legislative body.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday highlighted the work of “Parliamentary diplomacy” in his summary of the work of the legislative body on forming foreign ties throughout the past year.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Wednesday said every day that went without Georgia having the European Union membership candidate status was an “injustice” towards the country, in his summary of the work of the legislative body throughout the past year.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday discussed bilateral cooperation and his country’s European Union integration prospects with the visiting Croatian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gordan Grlić Radman.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska on Thursday praised the “high-level-dialogue” between the countries “in a number of directions” in a Tbilisi meeting.
Josep Borrell, the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, on Friday highlighted the “good discussion” with the Georgian Prime Minister Garibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili held on the sidelines of the ongoing Munich Security Conference.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Thursday discussed his country’s European integration prospects and the Black Sea submarine cable international project with Péter Szijjártó, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of Hungary.
Georgian Infrastructure Minister Irakli Karseladze on Friday said the experience of Hungary would be “very useful” for Georgia to “accelerate our readiness” to join the European Union.
Georgian Vice Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze on Tuesday called on the European Union to make a “bold political decision” on granting Georgia its membership candidate status by the end of this year, saying the outcome could prevent security threats to the country and the whole European security.