Ruling party head warns not granting Georgia EU candidate status later this year would “contribute to polarisation”
Kobakhidze also vowed the Georgian Government would fulfil “properly” all the conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the candidate status. Photo: Georgian Dream Press Office
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Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairman of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said if the European Council did not grant the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year, the decision would “contribute to the polarisation” of the domestic political environment.
Kobakhidze also highlighted the opposite scenario and said if the Council decided to “promote depolarisation”, the intention would “naturally” result in Georgia being granted the status as “politically, this is definitely better for the country”.
In theory, if we assume that we are not granted the candidate status, this would be an event encouraging polarisation. We hope the European Council will make a kind of decision in December that will promote depolarisation, and not the other way around”, the GD official said in an interview with the Georgian Public Broadcasting.
Kobakhidze claimed the country’s political opposition had tried to use the decision of the European Council not to grant the country the candidate status outright last month “in every possible way” for engendering polarisation on the domestic political field.
If you theoretically imagine that we were granted the candidate status with conditions - as it was imposed on Ukraine and Moldova - of course, in this case, the degree of polarisation would have been drastically reduced. If the goal was to reduce polarisation, they would have immediately granted us the candidate status”, he continued.
Kobakhidze also vowed the Georgian Government would fulfil “properly” all the conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the candidate status.
We will do everything based on our responsibility. These 12 conditions must be followed properly. We are responsible for acting in accordance with European standards - and precisely in accordance with these standards, all 12 conditions will be fulfilled”, he concluded in his comments.
The ruling Georgian Dream party on Friday presented its strategy for fulfilling the European Council’s 12-point outline, with Kobakhidze vowing the ruling team would ensure their fulfilment in “appropriate time and manner”.
Viola von Cramon, a Member of the European Parliament, on Tuesday called the ruling Georgian Dream party’s proposal for fulfilling the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Union for granting the country the membership candidate status later this year a “great signal”.
Ruling Georgian Dream party MP Rati Ionatamishvili on Tuesday said “any political party or group” that refused to participate in the implementation of the European Union’s recommendations for granting the membership candidate status to Georgia would “automatically be labelled as a Russian hybrid force”.
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.
The ruling Georgian Dream party on Friday presented its strategy for fulfilling the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Council for granting the country the European Union membership candidate status later this year.
A “certain part” of the domestic opposition is using the 12-point conditions outlined by the European Council for granting Georgia the European Union membership candidate status later this year for the objective of “deepening polarisation” in the domestic political environment, Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said on Wednesday.
Kakha Kaladze, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said the polarisation of the domestic political environment could not be ended “unilaterally” and the opposition had a “great responsibility” in the process.
President of the European Council Charles Michel on Wednesday said that the European Union was ready to grant the membership candidate status to Georgia once the priorities outlined by the bloc are addressed.
Davit Matikashvili, an MP for the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Friday said a “meticulous” implementation of the 12-point conditions established by the European Union would lead to Georgia receiving the EU membership candidate status, which he said was “not in the plans” of the opposition United National Movement party.