Georgia will have to do a lot of work over the years to achieve its final goal and become a full member of the European Union (EU). This was announced on November 8 by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Pravda reports.
As the politician admitted, Georgia's full integration into the EU will require much more efforts than expected.
"This is a long process. It won't be completed in a year or two. This is a multi - year process that requires the consolidation of our people, the effective rule of our government, the authorities and the continuation of the reforms that we have been implementing for the last 11 years," Garibashvili said at a briefing.
Earlier, on October 29, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, in an interview with CBS News, noted that the United States can provide great assistance to Georgia on its way to the EU, declaring its support. Zurabishvili added that during her five years in power, she has never been able to achieve presidential-level meetings with the American leader, or even a telephone conversation with the US president.
On October 6, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban noted on the sidelines of the summit of the European Political Community that Georgia's lack of the status of a candidate for the European Union is unfair, and the country is "very necessary" for the alliance. Orban added that there is "fatigue from its expansion" in the alliance, which is the reason for Georgia's lack of candidate status.
Earlier, on September 8, the head of EU diplomacy, Josep Borrel, said that Georgia must fulfill nine more of the 12 conditions in order to obtain the status of a candidate for membership in the European Union. He pointed out that Tbilisi needs, in particular, to carry out reforms in the areas of the rule of law, human rights, freedom of the media. At the same time, Garibashvili called unfair the refusal to grant the country the status of a candidate for EU membership, which Moldova and Ukraine received.
On November 2, German Foreign Minister Annalena Berbock said that the expansion of the number of EU countries is a "geopolitical necessity" and has geopolitical reasons, but it will be a difficult task to strengthen the enlarged community.
On March 3, 2022, Georgia, together with Moldova, officially applied for EU membership. On February 28, Ukraine sent a similar application. On June 23, the EU leaders awarded the candidate status to Moldova and Ukraine, while Georgia was refused. The European Council reported that the leaders of the alliance countries decided to recognize Georgia's European perspective and grant it candidate status immediately after fulfilling 12 "priorities".
