EU Council President’s claims on bloc expansion has positive, negative sides – ruling party head

Irakli Kobakhidze, the head of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Tuesday said the latest statement by the European Council President Charles Michel about the bloc’s planned expansion by 2030 had both “positive and negative sides”. 

 

In his press comments, the GD official welcomed naming a concrete date by Michel on Monday, and said he expected additional explanations about to whom the enlargement may concern. 

 

“When a country becomes an EU candidate state 18 years ago and there is a promise that it can become the bloc’s member in seven years, this does not give grounds for great optimism. I hope the expansion will concern all candidate states by 2030”, Kobakhidze said. 

 

He claimed the Georgian Dream authorities had made “tangible progress” in fulfilling the 12-point conditions outlined by the bloc last year for granting Georgia its membership candidate status, and noted Tbilisi hoped for a “positive decision” in December. 

 

“The decision will be political. I will repeat once again that the political decision is 50/50. Let’s see what decision the bloc will make. We have reason for optimism because everything is ready to get the candidate status”, Kobakhidze said. 

 

He highlighted Georgia would be the “most ready” to become an EU member by 2030, including in terms of economic growth.

 

Georgia officially applied for EU membership in March 2022, shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, instead of the planned 2024, and was granted a European perspective in June of that year, along with a reform agenda to obtain the bloc’s candidacy.