Georgian president criticises gov’t for not taking EU loan

Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili has criticized the government for its refusal to take the second portion (75 million euro) of the EU’s 150 million euro loan. 

Zurabishvili said that the decision was ‘unclear’ amid  the pandemic’s ‘huge negative economic influence’ on the country. 

She said that  the government’s reasons behind the refusal – the 12 percent economic growth and the intention to decrease the country’s 20 billion foreign debt – were not sufficient and well-grounded. 

Zurabishvili stated that along with the economic factor, ‘such hasty and unilateral decisions’ affected the country’s foreign image and frightened investors. 

She stated that in the situation when Georgia has plans to apply for EU membership, the government must act in a stable way not to lose the trust of its international partners. 

Zurabishvili stated that she will always encourage the country’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations and do her best to on the one hand hamper the government’s ‘unreasonable decisions’ and on the other hand the opposition’s ‘destructive actions’ which may pose threats to the country’s European future.