Parliament Committee Chair discusses EU enlargement at conference of candidate countries

Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Tuesday discussed the European Union’s enlargement policy and accession talks at the 19th parliamentary conference of EU candidate countries in Podgorica, Montenegro.

The Georgian Parliament said the conference also featured Levan Karumidze, the First Deputy Chair of the Committee, with the event also discussing the impact of the geopolitical situation on the EU enlargement policy, relations between the candidate countries and the EU, as well as matters related to regional cooperation.

Botchorishvili highlighted Georgia’s geopolitical importance in the context of the enlargement policy, progress achieved by the country “in various directions” in its association with the bloc, as well as challenges facing the state, the importance of starting EU accession talks “in a timely manner” and the need to strengthen cooperation between the candidate countries.

Representatives of the Western Balkan countries emphasised the importance of the first interparliamentary conference between Georgia and the states on European integration, held in the country’s capital Tbilisi in February, which they said laid the foundation for a new format of consultations between the candidate countries.

The Conference of the Parliamentary Committees on European Integration has been a common platform for cooperation on EU integration issues for countries of the Western Balkans since 2005. Montenegro, as the chairing country of the conference, invited delegations from Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova for the first time to participate in the event.