Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili: All European Leaders Confirm Support for Georgia's Candidate Status
By Liza Mchedlidze
Friday, October 6, 2023
Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili spoke to journalists about his participation in the third summit of the European Political Union (EPC) in the Spanish city of Granada. He said that he has received confirmation from all European leaders that they will support Georgia's candidacy for European Union membership.
"I also had important bilateral meetings with European leaders. I similarly briefed them on this progress and received confirmation from all European leaders that they will support Georgia's candidate status.
I also conveyed to them that if the country does not receive this status, it would be absolutely incomprehensible. It would be an insult to our Georgian people, and it would be undeserved-a further attempt to oppress the country or treat it unfairly," Gharibashvili said.
According to the Prime Minister, Georgia is ahead of the countries that have been granted the status of a candidate country for EU membership and reiterated that granting candidacy status is a 'political' decision.
"I don't want to reiterate that our country is ahead of those that currently hold candidate status. Furthermore, as you know, in many areas, our achievements even surpass those of active European Union members. So, I prefer not to dwell on that any further. Of course, we acknowledge that the decision and its rationale may be based on merit, but the key point is our awareness that this is a political decision.
I'll reiterate once more, when the status was granted to Moldova, Ukraine, and Bosnia-Herzegovina, but not to Georgia, that speaks volumes. Take any measure of performance, whether it's our achievements in various areas or the performance of the mentioned countries in those same areas, and compare. If we're discussing merit, from a political perspective, it is certainly justifiable, and it should indeed be a political decision. That's why I continue to emphasize that yes, this is a political decision," stated Gharibashvili.
