Meeting with Salome Zourabichvili
The Georgian President, Salome Zourabichvili, met with a delegation of six MEPs as part of their visit to Georgia. The European Parliament’s delegation includes MEPs David McAllister, Sven Mikser, Željana Zovko, Viola von Cramon-Taubadel, Thierry Mariani, and Assita Kanko.
Noting that Georgia's future in Europe hinges on the visit of the MEPs, the president emphasised the importance of listening to the MEPs and their comments at this time. In this regard, the President reprimanded the Georgian Dream party's leaders for engaging in back-and-forth with MEPs and declared that claims that the EU expects Georgia to launch a war and establish a second front are unacceptable. President Zourabichvili emphasised the importance of beginning work immediately on the twelve recommendations identified by the European Commission for Georgia's EU candidacy. She remarked, "It is ridiculous that we don't start working immediately when we have six months to implement the proposals."
MEP McAllister, in turn, stated: "The European Council's decision to acknowledge Georgia's perspective on Europe cannot be undervalued. This is an acknowledgment of the great support the Georgian people have for the future integration of their nation into Europe and the efforts of Georgian institutions to do so." While stressing that Georgia should satisfy the Commission's goals to acquire EU candidate status, the MEP acknowledged that Georgia is a member of the European family.
MEP McAllister stated that he and President Zourabichvili’s talk was centred on the significance of all political groups putting their differences aside and working constructively towards a common objective. He continued, "Unfortunately, divisiveness always seems to be evident when we speak about Georgia. We deeply lament this; the political discourse in our nation is marked by harsh rhetoric and the inability or desire to compromise and cooperate, no matter how crucial this is for the country." The member of the European Parliament insisted, "This needs to change. Georgia's development has been hampered by the political impasse, and the Commission's list of 12 objectives reflects our worries about the situation."
Meeting with Irakli Garibashvili
On July 21, Irakli Garibashvili, the prime minister of Georgia, met with the group of MEPs to discuss relations between the EU and Georgia as well as the 12 recommendations that need to be fulfilled before Georgia can be considered an EU candidate.
The PM highlighted as unfortunate the differential approach adopted to Georgia while criticising the European Council's choice to offer Georgia a European perspective but Ukraine and Moldova candidate status. However, he underlined that the Georgian administration has really declared adopting the twelve goals. "The execution of the goals established by the European Commission requires an inclusive approach and participation from all relevant stakeholders," said PM Garibashvili.
At the same time, the MEPs reaffirmed their support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty in light of the terrible humanitarian and human rights situation in Georgia's occupied territories.
