On Tuesday 15 November, the European Commissioner for Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, called on Georgia’s political parties to reach a national consensus to move forward on the twelve reform priorities defined by the European Commission so that it can recommend EU candidate status for Georgia.
“There is a need for a national consensus on the 12 priorities”, Mr Várhelyi stressed at a press conference with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Tbilisi. He warned that the Parliament was the key institution to move forward on these priorities. Mr Garibashvili added that it was essential that the opposition be involved in the process.
“We want to help Georgia prepare for EU membership, always under our generation. So in the coming weeks and months, we will have to work very hard, and we need Georgia to work very hard to demonstrate that it is ready to become a candidate country”, the Commissioner also stressed, insisting that this could only happen if the whole country and the Georgians worked towards this common goal.
Mr Várhelyi welcomed the progress in implementing the 12 priorities, particularly, the reform of the judiciary and the fight against corruption. “But, of course, there is still a lot to do. For example, we need a fully independent anti-corruption agency, the law on de-registration (...) and, of course, we need to take measures to step up the fight against organised crime”, he said. Mr Garibashvili said he was confident that all priority requests would be “completed very soon”.
The Commissioner also reiterated the EU’s support for Georgia’s territorial integrity. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)