Ruling party head vows “all steps” for EU accession talks will be fulfilled

Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Monday said all nine priorities set out by the European Commission for opening European Union accession talks with the country would be fulfilled, pledging the ruling party would present a “detailed plan” on their implementation.

In his remarks over the matter, Kobakhidze noted the action plan provided for involvement of the domestic opposition and non-governmental organisations in the process.

Of course, the implementation of all nine priorities will begin immediately. The work process will be intensive from January. The Parliament will be actively involved in the work process in January and February. Accordingly, the fulfilment of all nine priorities will be ensured in order to move to the next stage - opening accession negotiations”, he said. 

It is a time-consuming process, in the end it will take not one or two years to join the European Union, but the main thing is that we consistently move towards this goal”, the party official continued.

Kobakhidze also reviewed Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s end-of-year report summarising the work of his Government on Monday by saying the comments were “very interesting”. 

He added that the country had made “fundamental progress”, with “very good pace in all directions” - an outcome he credited the PM and the Government team for.