Parliament Committee Chair: path to Georgia's sovereignty, independence runs through EU, NATO membership
In his comments, the Committee Chair reviewed the Georgian Government’s foreign priorities, the country’s “internal political processes”, Georgia-Ireland relations, the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine and the security environment in the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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Nikoloz Samkharadze, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament’s Foreign Relations Committee, on Thursday said the “only path” of ensuring Georgia's sovereignty and independence ran through the country’s membership in the European Union and NATO.
Samkharadze made the comment during this week’s visit of a Georgian Parliamentary delegation to Ireland, where the EU Affairs Committee of the Irish Parliament hosted the Georgian lawmakers, the press office of the Georgian legislative body said.
In his comments, the Committee Chair reviewed the Georgian Government’s foreign priorities, the country’s “internal political processes”, Georgia-Ireland relations, the ongoing Russian aggression in Ukraine and the security environment in the South Caucasus and Black Sea regions.
Today, Georgia is facing fundamental challenges - the [Russian] occupation and the deteriorating security environment. Since the restoration of Georgia's independence, we have been targeted by Russia three times, which ended with the occupation of 20 percent of Georgia's territory and ethnic cleansing”, he told his Irish colleagues.
The Parliament official also told the hosts Russia was taking “provocative steps against Georgia on a daily basis in various forms and wants to escalate the situation” through the occupied regions.
What is happening in Ukraine today is a continuation of the policy [Russia] has been implementing against Georgia for years. We are concerned about Russia's aggressive actions in Ukraine and the region as a whole. We believe that the only path of Georgia's sovereignty and independence runs through its membership in the European Union and NATO, and we strongly hope that we will make tangible progress on this path this year”, the Parliament official concluded.
Charlie Flanagan, the Chair of the Irish Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defence, on Tuesday said the future of Georgia lay “firmly” in the “European Union family”.
European Council President Charles Michel on Tuesday said the Council of the European Union must make a decision on starting the process of negotiations on the accession of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to the bloc by the end of this year.
The cooperation between Georgia and the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and the agenda of democratic reforms carried out in the country were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Co-rapporteurs of the PACE Monitoring Committee.
The strategic partnership between Georgia and the United States in defence and security and the importance of strengthening it were discussed on Tuesday in a meeting between Irakli Beraia, the Chair of the Defence and Security Committee in the Georgian Parliament, and Joseph Bilbo, the US Defence Attaché in Georgia.
Strengthening the cooperation within the framework of the European Union’s Eastern Partnership was discussed on Friday in Brussels in a meeting involving the Georgian Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Teimuraz Janjalia and representatives of the European External Action Service, the European Commission and the countries of the Eastern Partnership.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Monday said the country “definitely” deserved the European Union membership candidate status but noted it was a “political decision that must be made by the [bloc’s] 27 member states”.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili on Tuesday congratulated Finland on joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, stressing the alliance has become “stronger and more united”, and Europe - “a safer place” with the country.
Bilateral relations and cooperation between Georgian and Danish legislative bodies were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between chairs of committees of the Georgian Parliament and the Speaker of the Danish Parliament Søren Gade.