Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili pleaded on Tuesday 16 March for a strengthening of relations between his country and the EU, recalling that Tbilisi intends to apply for EU membership in 2024.
“We see our future in the EU”, he said after the EU-Georgia Association Council in Brussels.
“We discussed possibilities to make the relationship even more dynamic and forward-looking”, he added. According to the Prime Minister, his country needs more opportunities to deepen its integration with the EU. Gradual and full integration into the European single market will be the next step in this direction, he explained.
Mr Garibashvili stressed that, despite the Covid-19 pandemic, his country had continued to adopt reforms, for example on energy efficiency and human rights. He also explained that Georgia was a gateway to Asia, that it could play an important role in the transport and transit of energy, and highlighted the potential of the Black Sea.
While expressing his readiness to expand areas of cooperation with Georgia, Commissioner for Neighbourhood Olivér Várhelyi said that there was still scope for further cooperation within the framework of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA). According to the Commissioner, “we must first use all the tools and opportunities we have in the DCFTA” and focus on accelerating the implementation of this agreement.
For his part, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell, once again stressed the need to resolve the current political crisis in Georgia. He felt that the country was at a “political turning point” and that time was running out.
“Since the last parliamentary elections in autumn, the EU has repeatedly stressed the need for all political actors to find common ground and seek a way out of the current political situation”, he recalled, calling for compromise. “This is particularly essential at a time when Georgia needs to address the Covid-19 pandemic and move forward with the reform agenda”, including electoral and judicial reforms, he said.
According to Mr Borrell, the government and the ruling party have a “specific responsibility” to find a solution. He added that Parliament’s boycott did not help the functioning of democracy and political pluralism.
The High Representative said he had provided an update to the Prime Minister regarding the EU mediation - made up of the European Council President Charles Michel and his envoy Christian Danielsson, currently in Tbilisi - to resolve the political crisis.
Mr Michel met Mr Garibashvili twice, on 15 and 16 March.
See the joint press release issued after the Association Council: http://bit.ly/3rTxe5L (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)