European Commission in favor of granting Ukraine, Moldova EU candidate status - but not Georgia
European Commission does not recommend granting Georgia EU candidate status
Ukraine and Moldova will receive the status of an EU candidate, but will be required to fulfill certain conditions. Georgia, on the other hand, must first fulfill the conditions, and then it will have a chance of obtaining the status the EU candidate status. This was announced today at a briefing by the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen.
According to the President of the European Commission, Georgia has the same potential and aspirations as Ukraine and Moldova, because Georgia’s advantages are market orientation and a strong private sector. In order for the country to succeed and be politically unified, she said, a clear structural reform path needs to be identified:
“It will be a path that outlines all the necessary reforms that unite civil society. These reforms must have broad political support. That is why we are in favor of granting Georgia a European perspective and then assessing whether it meets the relevant conditions before we grant it candidate status”.
As for Ukraine and Moldova, von der Leyen said that both countries need to carry out many important reforms in the future. According to the President of the European Commission, Moldova has carried out significant reforms in recent months – after gaining independence, it chose an anti-corruption and pro-European path.
“Of course, they still have a long way to go. Their economy and general government sector needs to be developed, but as the country’s leadership is following this course, we believe that the country has the potential to meet these requirements”, said Lyen.
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova jointly applied for EU membership. All countries filled out special questionnaires of the European Union with more than 3,000 questions.
A resolution on violations of media freedom in Georgia and the safety of journalists was approved by the European Parliament on 9 June.
The European Parliament supported granting Georgia the status of a candidate member of the EU. But it also urged the European Council to consider imposing personal sanctions against Bidzina Ivanishvili.
“This resolution os worth nothing”, “The European Parliament has fallen victim of fakes”, “European parliamentarians want to open a second front in Georgia” – these and similar statements were made by members of the ruling Georgian Dream party in response to the critical resolution.
