On Friday 1 September, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, called on Georgia to continue its reforms, just a few weeks before the publication of Georgia’s progress report by the European Commission.
According to a statement issued by his spokesperson, during a meeting in Brussels with Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, Michel highlighted “the need for the country to further deepen the necessary reforms, notably in the areas of justice, deoligarchisation and anti-corruption and media pluralism”. “Depolarisation and the construction of an inclusive political culture are also a priority”, added the spokesperson.
Mr Michel also felt that the European Council’s decision to grant Georgia a European perspective was “an historic opportunity which is not to be missed”.
The President of the European Council also welcomed the Georgian President’s personal commitment to promoting her country’s European perspective, as Georgia’s ruling party decided on the same day to launch impeachment proceedings against her, after Zourabichvili met with foreign leaders to press for Georgia’s EU membership without government permission. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)