Mayor of Akhaltsikhe Municipality congratulates on Candidate status to Georgia By EU

Tbilisi, Georgia: As the whole country is celebrating the decision of the European Council with regard to Granting candidate status to Georgia Mayor of Akhaltsikhe Municipality Irakli Lazarashvili Extended his congratulations to the citizens on this historic decision of the country.

While congratulating the countryman, he stated, “I would like to congratulate every citizen of Georgia on this important date – by the decision of the European Council, Georgia has been granted the status of a candidate of the European Union. This is the worthy victory of our country, which is the result of joint struggle and effort. I am sure there will be a lot of success ahead.”

Mayor Irakli Lazarashvili further said that for this great victory I would like to thank the Government of Georgia, headed by Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, the Parliament of Georgia, civil servants and all the people who believed in the progress of the country.

He also announced that on December 15, in Tbilisi, at 17:00, a public celebration will be held at Freedom Square. He invited all to join us and celebrate the success of the country together.

For convenience of public, Transport facility will be provided free of charge for those who wish to participate in the public celebration. Travelling minibuses from Akhaltsikhi will depart at 12:00 from Natenadze Street, from the area of the six-storey building.

It is to be specifically to mention that the president of Georgia herself launched the “Our Voice to Europe” campaign. Millions of Georgian citizens signed the petition to support the integration of Georgia into the European Union.

European Council which includes the leaders of EU member states announced the decision on Thursday evening. They also made an announcement that the European Union will open accession negotiations with fellow Eastern Partnership members Ukraine and Moldova keeping them one step ahead of Georgia in entering the bloc.

It is to be to be specifically mentioned that The Georgian Government applied for membership last year on March 3 in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; this was taken following similar moves from the Ukrainian and Moldovan governments and public pressure to follow suit.

 Importantly, In June 2022, the council granted Moldova and Ukraine candidate status but denied it to Georgia, giving the government 12 ‘priorities’ to address before their candidacy could be reconsidered.

Thursday’s decision by the European Union comes as the government making significant progress in many areas as per the European standard.

In the last few months a large number of Georgian government Minniastre’s started many initiatives to make the required changes in their functioning.

These changes were aimed at aligning the Georgian system up to the level of the European Union.

On the other hand locals of the municipality also expressed their happiness over the decision of candidate status. They also thanked the Georgia Government for making consistent and sincere efforts to make the process smooth and easy. People also congratulated each other and expressed hopes that soon Georgia will be a full-fledged member of the European Union and will make progress in every field.