“Historic” recommendation on Georgia’s candidacy “acknowledges” its progress in fight against corruption - EU Ambassador

Paweł Herczyński, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia, on Saturday said the European Commission’s “historic” recommendation, last month, to grant the country the EU membership candidate status was an “acknowledgement” of Georgia’s progress in the fight against corruption.

In his statement on International Anti-Corruption Day, Herczyński noted establishing the Anti-Corruption Bureau in the country and developing a deoligarchisation action plan, approved by the Government in November, were “part of the way forward”, adding “more remains to be done”.

Strengthening the fight against corruption is a crucial component of the EU enlargement process and one of the nine steps on Georgia’s path to EU membership”, the Ambassador emphasised, stressing Georgia was part of “the efforts undertaken to address” the challenges in this regard.

He said the EU “stands side by side with Georgia” to ensure that Rule of Law principles and standards “are respected and complied with”.

International Anti-Corruption Day has been observed annually, on 9 December since the adoption of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption in 2003 to raise public awareness for anti-corruption.