Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili said his country’s “impressive leap” from 54th to 17th in the latest Transparency Index was “another evidence” the European Union’s refusal to grant Tbilisi its membership candidate status last year had been far from being a merit-based decision.
In his social media post, the official highlighted Georgia had surpassed EU member and candidate states and stood alongside leading countries like Finland, Sweden and the UK in the European Research Centre for Anti Corruption and State-Building’s Index.
"Impressive leap for Georgia in Transparency Index2023. Surpassing EU members and candidates, Georgia now stands alongside leading countries like Finland, Sweden and the UK," Papuashvili said.
"The report, based on factual data, measures transparency and accountability using international criteria. These and other rankings and ratings, based on evidence and facts, tell us clearly that denying Georgia the EU candidate status was far from a merit-based decision”, Papuashvili added.
The Index surveys the state of government transparency around the world by measuring 143 countries based on a survey of both “de facto” and “de jure” state of transparency in the states.
