Georgian authorities discover way to obtain EU candidate status

© Photo: Anastasia Tesemnikova/Vestnik Kavkaza

One of the top representatives of the Georgian Dream, Archil Talakvadze, said that Tbilisi intends to fulfill 100% of the EU regulations in a month and a half in order to receive in December the coveted candidate status that Moldova and Ukraine got last year.

Today, Deputy Chairman of the Georgian Parliament Archil Talakvadze spoke about what is the most reliable path to acquiring the long-awaited candidate status for EU membership. According to him, it is necessary to complete the process of reforming the legislation and state institutions of the republic in the next month and a half.

“The status itself is the subject of a political decision, and, accordingly, our responsibility in this process is not to leave a single important reform unimplemented before December and not leave a single important issue that could interfere with Georgia’s European integration,”

- Archil Talakvadze said.

The politician added that the European Union itself is interested in making Georgia a candidate for membership. Since Tbilisi has by now made every effort to fulfill all the demands presented, failure to take this step will be evidence that the “friends” of the republic have abandoned it. Talakvadze pointed out that thus they will support the foreign policy actions of those countries towards which the European Union is hostile.

At the moment, the European Commission has approved Georgia’s fulfillment of only three out of twelve conditions: legislative gender equality, acceptance of the verdicts of the European Court of Human Rights and the establishment of an ombudsman institution independent of the ruling party. A decision on the republic's status in relations with Brussels will be made at the European summit in December.