December 14 will be recorded as “historic day”, Georgia is European state from today - PM on obtaining EU candidate status
Garibashvili also congratulated on today’s “historic victory” each member of his team, the Government and thousands of civil servants, Georgia’s Parliament, the ruling Georgian Dream party, “each member who made their worthy contribution to the achievement of this great historic victory”. Photo via Government Administration
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December 14 will be recorded as “a historic day”, starting today Georgia is a European state, the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Thursday following the European Council’s decision on granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status.
My dear compatriots, with great pride and joy, I congratulate you on the historic decision - Georgia has become a candidate country for EU membership. I want to congratulate every citizen on today's historic day. This is truly a victory for our country and our people. This is really a well-earned, well-deserved status that we, the Government, have gained with our people and for our people. We fought, we won”, Garibashvili noted.
He emphasised “this victory belongs” to the Georgian people, noting it was the result of joint work and struggle, “I would like to thank all the people who laid every brick in this historic victory and brought this victory to our people”, he added.
???????? is ???????? candidate country! Grateful to @EUCouncil ???????? leaders, @CharlesMichel, @vonderleyen, @OliverVarhelyi for acknowledging ????????’s civilizational choice. We remain dedicated & eagerly look forward to advancing on our ???????? integration path.
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) December 14, 2023
The Head of the Government “most importantly” thanked each leader of all 27 EU member states for “their unanimity, strong support and trust”, as well as Ursula von der Leyen, the President of the European Commission, Charles Michel, the European Council President, Oliver Varhelyi, the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, who had been involved in the process “all this time”.
Charles Michel called me today and personally congratulated me on today’s decision and this historic victory. I have the honour to convey his congratulations to the Georgian people”, the PM stressed.
Garibashvili also congratulated on today’s “historic victory” each member of his team, the Government and thousands of civil servants, Georgia’s Parliament, the ruling Georgian Dream party, “each member who made their worthy contribution to the achievement of this great historic victory”.
The contributions of Bidzina Ivanishvili, the former Prime Minister and founder of the ruling Georgian Dream party, were highlighted by the PM, who congratulated Ivanishvili and said his governance “has brought this very day and this success”, stressing since coming to power in 2012 the Georgian Dream team “has reached the maximum [by its work]”.
Today can be said to be a kind of accomplishment of our successful governance efforts”, Garibashvili emphasised.
He noted during his governance he had had “the honour” to sign the Association Agreement with the EU in 2014 on behalf of Georgia and the visa-free travel deal, as well as to apply for EU membership on March 3, 2022, adding the European perspective granted last year “proved” that Georgia would become a member of the European family.
The Head of the Government called on citizens to join the celebration of the “historic victory” - obtaining the EU candidate status - on Friday at Freedom Square in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi at 17:00, and stressed “tomorrow should be a national celebration and common victory”.
Georgian officials congratulated citizens on being granted the candidate status, following the announcement of the country’s candidacy by the European Council President Charles Michel earlier today.