Tbilisi: Georgia to be the first to join EU

Chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party Irakli Kobakhidze expressed the ruling team’s confidence the country would join the European Union before Ukraine and Moldova.

In his remarks over the prospect of opening accession negotiations with the bloc, he noted the decision “must be made” in 2024.

"Last year, we deserved not only the candidate status, but also the opening of negotiations. We hope that a fair decision will be made”, Kobakhidze said in reference to the European Council’s 2022 decision to only award the country a European perspective, before this year’s conclusion on granting it the membership candidate status.

“There were difficult processes that we concluded with success. We can make the same promise to the public regarding the opening of negotiations. We are sure that we will join the EU before Ukraine and Moldova”, Kobakhidze stressed.