Parliament Speaker: Waiting for European Council to “rightfully” grant EU candidacy to Georgia next week

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Sunday said the country was waiting for the European Council’s decision next week on Georgia’s candidacy for European Union membership, to “rightfully” receive the status, for which the state had been working for a year and a half.

Georgia has “a positive” decision from the European Commission, which in November recommended the Council to grant Georgia the EU candidate status, Papuashvili told the media, adding the country “has received support from all bloc member countries” in this regard.

We deserved the [EU] candidate status last year as well, because we were leaders compared to other countries [who received the status - Ukraine and Moldova]. Unfortunately, this decision was not made last year, [and] there are all preconditions for it [granting the status] this year. So, we only expect that [this year’s] decision will be based on merit”, he noted.

The Parliament Speaker emphasised that the Government had approved an action plan for fulfilling the nine priorities outlined by the Commission in its recommendation, and noted “the door is open to everyone [representatives of every political party]” to work on implementing the relevant recommendations. 

The Georgian Government has acted correctly, in the interests of the Georgian people, thoughtfully moving towards the goal - obtaining EU candidate status, Papuashvili said.