Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the European Integration Committee in the Georgian Parliament, on Monday highlighted the “strategic importance” of the European Union enlargement at the Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the EU Chairpersons held in Namur, Belgium.
The lawmaker also expressed gratitude to member states for their support for Tbilisi’s EU candidacy last month, calling the granting of the status “historic”, before acknowledging the challenges and claiming prevalence of “disinformation” allegedly aimed against the process.
Great pleasure to represent #Georgia for the first time as an #EU candidate country at the #COSACChairs meeting in #Namur. Pleased to see my colleagues, who provided firm and vocal support for Georgia’s European integration throughout the past year and a half.@parleu2024be pic.twitter.com/486WBP3FXP
— Maka Botchorishvili (@MakaB__) January 15, 2024
I extend my thanks to everyone who, rather than attempting to rewrite history, has assisted us in commencing a new, European chapter in Georgia's history", she stressed, voicing optimism the realisation of Belgium's EU presidency priorities would further strengthen Georgia's ties with the bloc.
Addressing the issue of the bloc’s enlargement, Botchorishvili emphasised the necessity of expediting the process.
Enlargement policy holds greater strategic importance today, and we can no longer afford the luxury of a slow-paced process over the last decade. We all require effective integration mechanisms, the removal of existing barriers, wherever possible, to facilitate the swift economic and political integration of candidate countries into the EU”, the official told the event.
Bochorishvili also highlighted Georgia's “successful” reform implementation under the 2014 Association Agreement with the EU, citing it as a “solid foundation” for the country's candidacy, and utilisation of “new opportunities” for integration into the bloc.