Georgia Deserved EU Membership Candidate Status Through its 30-year Struggle for Democracy, PM Garibashvili Says

By Khatia Bzhalava

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

According to Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, the ruling party has brought real tangible results to the country in the European integration direction.

The Prime Minister signed Georgia’s EU membership application on March 3.

Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili announced on Monday that the ruling Georgian Dream party “has done the most” in 30 years, be it signing an Association Agreement, Free Trade Agreement, Visa-Free Regime, or application for EU membership. According to him, Georgia has deserved European Union membership candidate status through its 30-year “struggle for democracy” and reforms implemented by the Government over the past nine years.

“No country is ideal, not even one European state is ideal. The progress we have achieved is in black and white, there is such a sharp difference between what we have taken charge of and what results we have achieved during these 9 years,” Garibashvili stated.

The PM stated that the Georgian Dream party wrote in the Constitution in 2017 that Georgia’s foreign policy course is Euro-Atlantic, stressing that the ruling party brought real tangible results to the country in this direction.

“Today they say that if we do not get the EU candidate status, the government will be accountable – in no case. The government has done its best, the rest is a working process,” Garibashvili stated, adding that the government would be committed to continuing democratic reforms in the country.

He stressed the symbolic significance of the formal EU membership application, signed on March 3, as the ‘climax’ of the achievements of his Government towards EU integration.

According to Garibashvili, Georgia was “not asking for anything special and undeserved” regarding the membership candidate status, adding that if the European Commission’s decision on the country’s membership application turned out to be “unfair”, the Government would “explain to the people in detail the main reasons” behind it.

“They say that Ukraine is at war and that is why it should be given status. If granting the status is determined by war, we do not want war, friends, we demand the deserved status that the Georgian people have earned,” the government head stated.