At the Europe Day event in Georgia, EU Ambassador Pavel Gerchinsky addressed the audience in Georgian. According to him, Georgia now has a historical chance for European integration.
“We are celebrating Europe Day. Georgia is celebrating this day with a European perspective, which is a great success. The next stage is obtaining candidate status, which will bring Georgia even closer to EU membership. This goal is supported by the vast majority of the population. This is a historic opportunity to become a member of a united, secure and economically strong European family. I wish Georgia success on this path.”
At the event, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili also addressed the audience:
“Yesterday we celebrated Spain Day because Spain will officially take over the EU Presidency from July and until then, as you know, Sweden is the EU Presidency. That’s why we’ve already proposed Sweden Day today.”
Swedish Ambassador Ulrik Tideström also spoke at the event.
“Georgia’s European path is as important for Sweden as the current EU presidency. Because together we are stronger. We want more Georgia both in Sweden and in the European Union.”
On June 17, 2022, the European Commission prepared a conclusion granting Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova candidate status for EU membership. Ukraine and Moldova will receive EU candidate status and will be required to fulfill certain obligations, while Georgia will first be obliged to fulfill a 12-point plan before it receives candidate status.
On November 8, 2022, European parliamentarians discussed the annual report on the implementation of the Association Agreement between Georgia and the European Union at a meeting of the Foreign Affairs Committee in Brussels. According to the adopted compromise document, Bidzina Ivanishvili is no longer mentioned as an oligarch, but in the chapter on deoligarchization, his name and surname are indicated and it is written that it is necessary to take legislative decisions regarding Ivanishvili’s excessive influence.
On February 3 this year, the European Commission published a report on Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova’s compliance with EU legislation and assessed Georgia’s compliance with EU foreign policy as “moderately prepared”.
