EU commissioner praises Georgia’s EU aspirations

• 12 December, 06:51

The European Union Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy, Oliver Varhelyi, has praised Georgia’s EU aspirations, saying that the country must be granted the EU membership candidate status as Tbilisi has done “great job” to this end.

In his comments to a Georgian TV channel on Tuesday, the Commissioner also urged the EU member countries’ leaders to take “a strategic decision” about Georgia’s candidacy.  

Noting that European Commission’s recommendations on granting Georgia a candidate status were “clear”, the Commissioner said “Georgia has come a long way [...] We will see whether the European Council will take this into account”.

“My message to the Georgian Government and the Georgian people is as follows - keep working, because this is the best recipe for success”, Varhelyi went on saying.

It should be noted that earlier, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, urged granting the status to the South Caucasus country as “steps have really been taken” for the outcome. In a statement in November, von der Leyen said the Georgian government’s steps towards the country’s EU candidacy “mirror the genuine aspirations of the overwhelming majority of its citizens to join the European Union.”