Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili says that the country meets all requirements to receive the EU candidate country status following its bid for membership in early March, stating that the process is largely dependent on the EU’s “political will” to add new members.

“The decision on EU membership also requires the readiness of the EU to open its doors to new members. There are different opinions among the member states on the enlargement of the European Union, which is known to everyone,” Darchiashvili said in Georgia’s state legislature on Friday.

Darchiashvili suggested that “Georgia has always been a frontrunner” in the Eastern Partnership region which was due to the “successful legislative and institutional approach under the EU-Georgia Association Agreement.”

 “All these have been confirmed by a number of international reports published in recent years. With its progress Georgia is ahead of many western Balkan countries,” Darchiashvili said.

Georgia applied for EU membership on March 3 and submitted the self-assessment questionnaire earlier this month.

The country is expecting the EU report on its candidate country status next month.