Parliament Speaker hopes European Council will make “European decision” on Georgia’s EU candidacy

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Saturday said he hoped the European Council would make “a truly European”, merit-based decision on granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.

In his comments to the media, Papuashvili noted it was expected that the Council’s decision would be positive for Georgia, as well as Ukraine and Moldova, after the European Commission recommended the Council to grant Georgia the candidate status and to open accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova.

It is important for the European Council to come up to the expectations of our [Georgian] people”, the Parliament Speaker stressed.

Georgia was “unfairly oppressed” last year, as the country did not receive the candidate status, while the other two members of the Associated Trio countries - Ukraine and Moldova obtained the status, despite “Georgia being the leader [in Associated Trio] compared to both countries”, he added.

Georgia should not be held hostage to political discussions that may exist in different countries, but a decision regarding [granting] Georgia [EU candidate status] should be made based on merit”, Papuashvili said.

The Parliament Speaker’s comment followed the statements by some representatives of the domestic opposition, who claimed that Hungary’s “critical attitude” towards Ukraine would “block” Georgia’s EU candidacy.

I don't know what idea this [radical] opposition has about Europe, about European values”, he added.

The European Commission on November 8 recommended the European Council to grant Georgia the bloc’s membership candidate status. The final decision on the country’s candidacy is expected to be announced next week.