Crucial Weeks Ahead for Georgia's EU Integration, Says Pawel Herczynski
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, October 26, 2023
President of Georgia, Salome Zourabichvili, met with European Union country ambassadors at the Orbeliani Palace. Her series of meetings, which began a few weeks ago, has also included discussions with representatives of the opposition, the non-governmental sector, and other diplomatic missions.
After the meeting with President Zourabichvili, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, H.E. Pawel Herczynski, stated that the vast majority of Georgians strongly desire closer ties with the European Union and added that the upcoming weeks are crucial for the country's EU integration.
According to Herczynski, it is crucial for everyone to put in careful efforts to persuade the 27 member states of the European Union that Georgia has made significant progress and deserves to be granted candidate status.
"These clearly will be crucial weeks for Georgia. On November 8, we are expecting the first enlargement report with recommendations. And at the end of this year, in the middle of December, 27 EU member states at the highest political level, at the level of presidents and prime ministers, will decide on the next steps when it comes to Georgia's integration process. The President plans to be very active in support of candidate status for Georgia.
On November 8, we will all see the first-ever enlargement report for Georgia. This will be a purely merit-based report describing where Georgia has made progress, also describing where further progress needs to be made. This report will include a recommendation to EU member states. The decision itself will be taken by EU member states. And it's extremely difficult for me to say what will be the outcome," Herczynski stated.
The EU Ambassador to Georgia discussed the progress and challenges in the country. Herczynski suggested that more could have been achieved in the past year and a half and noted that polarization still exists within Georgia. He also emphasized his satisfaction that the impeachment proceedings against President Zourabichvili did not come to fruition.
"Probably a bit more could have been done in a year and a half. There is still polarization in the country. In terms of de-oligarchization, there are only future steps. After the visit of Joseph Borrell, clearly, there is acceleration and a lot of positive developments including the work of broadcasting law, including memorandums of understanding that were signed with some civil society organizations. I'm also glad that the impeachment procedure was not successful," said the EU Ambassador to Georgia.
