Georgia’s EU Ambassador: “important” to continue working on European integration path

Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Georgia's Ambassador to the European Union, on Tuesday said it was “important” to continue working on the path of European integration in order to achieve the further goal of opening the accession negotiations with and joining the European Union.

In his remarks over the matter, Makharoblishvili noted the Georgian Government had “close” communication with relevant offices of the European Commission and would “continue to do so”. 

It was very important when the European Commission adopted the [enlargement] report and gave a clear recommendation. The Georgian side did not wait for the decision of the European Council and started actively working on the action plan - that is, on the next steps - already in November”, he said.

The diplomat stressed the country’s European partners had welcomed the fact that the Georgian authorities had “immediately” started work on implementation of subsequent steps in the integration process.

It is very important to continue working in order to move forward, to start the accession negotiations on time and to fulfil the dream of membership in the European Union. This is a live, working process. We are constantly in very close contact with relevant institutions of the European Commission”, the diplomat added. 

Earlier today, Gert Jan Koopman, the Head of the Directorate-General for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Negotiations of the European Commission, told the ongoing annual Ambassadorial Conference in Georgia's capital city of Tbilisi the country had “really earned” the “very important” step in its European path with the EU candidacy.