Georgia: Former Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia calls on the European Union to grant EU membership candidate status to the Associated Trio countries of Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova.
Gakharia wrote on Facebook that “today, when the country has a real opportunity to join the European Union, it is important that we all stand together for the country’s interests.”
” It does not matter who is in power today or in the opposition and what is our attitude towards them, today the future and fate of our children and our country are decided.
We call on the European Union to grant Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova EU membership candidate status, which will be an important step towards the implementation of the idea of a united and peaceful Europe.
We are ready to work with our international partners to support the European integration process, both within the country and abroad. Georgia deserves to be a member of the European family.
” Our homeland has already paid the price for this many times, ” Gakharia wrote on Facebook.
Georgia applied for EU membership on March 3, and the EU membership questionnaire was handed over to Georgia on April 11.
The questionnaire is an official document used by the EU in the country assessment process. A candidate country may be sent thousands of questions that require complex answers. The questionnaire involves questions about the human rights situation in the country, reforms, education, culture, agriculture and many other areas.
Irakli Gharibashvili handed over the completed questionnaire to the EU Ambassador to Georgia, Karl Hartzel, on May 2. However, the answers have not been made public by the authorities yet.