Georgian Parliament Speaker to EP chair: It’s time EU to grant Georgia candidate status ‘without delay’ amid current geopolitical pressures

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili has addressed the European Parliament President Roberta Metsola ahead of an urgent debate on Georgia in the European Parliament this Wednesday, stating that Georgia has applied for EU membership and now It was the time for the EU “to make its bid and grant Georgia candidate status without delay given the current geopolitical pressures.”

 

In a letter released on Tuesday Papuashvili stated that while a discussion on media freedom and safety of journalists was always important, “for the sake of fairness, a wider context of Georgia’s application for European Union membership should be more relevant now than any matter related to the present political moment.” 

“Yet, while focusing on isolated instances, we should also keep in mind the impressive progress that independent media has achieved in Georgia in the past decade as a result of the country’s democratic transformation,” he said. 

 

Papuashvili suggested that after officially applying for EU membership on March 3, the entire country “is gripped in anticipation of the decision of the European Council later this month.”  

 

“Even before Georgia obtained independence, through the decades-long popular struggle against Communism and Soviet oppression, Europe was the cultural and political symbol and vector that drove what Georgians called our national liberation movement. Even amidst the externally imposed proxy conflicts in the 1990s, calls for European and Euro-Atlantic integration prevailed against any other alternatives in the national discourse,” he stated.  

 

Papuashvili said that the rule of law, democratic institutions, national stability, peaceful foreign and security policy, and economic and social reforms had been driven by the notion of unity with European nations. 

“Every government and opposition party in the past three decades, since independence, while broadly diverging on many domestic issues, have never been divided over Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. This unity gives me the right to reiterate our arguments as to why we suggest and, indeed, claim that we have the right to be a candidate country for European Union membership,” Papuashvili said.  

 

He reminded the EU of Georgia’s commitment to international peace and security.  

 

“We built peace and security together with Europe. We showed our dedication in Iraq, Afghanistan, Mali, Central African Republic, Kosovo, and elsewhere, wherever needed and called for by our European partners. In the past decade, Georgia proved itself to be a valued and reliable partner with its responsible foreign and security policy, which helped to maintain stability in the Caucasus and broader region, wherever Georgia’s contribution helped to make a difference.”  

 

He stated that Georgia signed the Association Agreement with the EU, gained visa free travel and carried out a wide range of democratic reforms on the background of “actual aggressive actions and occupation of Georgia’s territories by Russia and permanent threats that have become so obvious to everybody in the context of Russia’s unprecedented brutal aggression against Ukraine.” 

“Georgia’s achievements, and more so, prospects of future successes, make Georgia a desired prospective member of the EU in matters of the EU’s peace and security policy, energy independence, expansion of free markets, and, last but not least, cultural diversity,” Papuashvili said.

 

He noted that “challenges remain. But the trajectory of the country clearly indicates a desire for progress, capacity for improvement and, above all, potential for enriching and strengthening the Union.”