Georgia to fulfill EC recommendations to receive EU candidate status

Georgia will start working on the implementation of the European Commission (EC) recommendations, which were given to the republic in order to obtain candidate status in the European Union, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said at a government meeting on Monday.

"As soon as the European Council approves the recommendations, of course, we will immediately start working with Brussels. I want to explain to our citizens that most of these recommendations have already been put on our agenda. There are issues that we will, of course, clarify with Brussels, we will work and get candidate status," he said.

On June 17, the European Commission recommended the European Council to grant candidate status to Georgia after it meets a number of preconditions, including reducing polarization between political parties, strengthening and ensuring the state institutions' independence, creating a transparent and effective justice system and so on. On June 23-24, the EU heads of state and government will consider the EC recommendations.