Ruling party Sec Gen stresses importance of fulfilling EU conditions for membership candidate status
Kaladze stressed Georgia had "deserved" the status, but added the EU had taken a “political decision” over the matter by conditioning it on the set of priorities. Photo: Tbilisi City Hall
Tweet 
Share
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said it was “difficult to say" how long it would take for Georgia to receive the European Union membership candidate status, emphasising fulfilment of the conditions outlined by the EU for the outcome.
Kaladze stressed Georgia had "deserved" the status, but added the EU had taken a “political decision” over the matter by conditioning it on the set of priorities.
It is difficult to say how long it will take to receive the membership candidate status. The main thing is that we implement the reforms outlined. In addition, we have a number of obligations under the [2014-signed] Association Agreement - all this has to be done and then everything will depend on the European Union”, the GD official said.
The European Council on Thursday granted the membership candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova, and said it would be ready to grant the same status to Georgia once the outstanding priorities outlined by the European Commission were addressed by the Georgian Government.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s European Union Integration Committee, on Monday said the Government would pursue the path of reforms that would “advance the country” on the European integration path and bring it closer to the ultimate goal of becoming an EU member.
Georgia has received “guaranteed promise” to become EU member
By having been granted the "European perspective" by European Union bodies, Georgia has received "a guaranteed promise" that it will "definitely become" a member of the EU, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili said on Friday.
The European Union’s decision of not granting the membership candidate status to Georgia “contradicts the tasks of strengthening” the bloc, Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said on Friday in a press briefing with his Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiasvhili in Tbilisi.
The Georgian Government will continue to pursue an “ambitious” reform agenda together with the European Union to ensure the country’s eventual integration into the bloc, the Georgian foreign office said on Friday following the decision of the European Council to recognise the country’s European perspective for membership.
Georgian Ambassador to the United States David Zalkaliani on Tuesday received a copy of the European Council’s “historic” decision on granting the European perspective to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova from Stavros Lambrinidis, the European Union Ambassador to the United States.
The ruling Georgian Dream party will set up a group tasked with monitoring political polarisation in the country, following the inclusion of the challenge of overcoming division on the domestic political field in the conditions outlined by the European Council for granting the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said “everybody” from the domestic opposition should be involved in the process related to obtaining the European Union membership candidate status for Georgia.
Member of the European Parliament Marketa Gregorova on Monday said she was “very happy” that there was a plan and a will from the Georgian Government for fulfilling the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status later this year.
European Union Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell on Thursday said it was "very important for everyone in Georgia to realise” that the EU’s decision to “open the door” to Georgia with the European Council’s move to grant the country the European perspective was a “truly historic” moment.