According to the radical opposition’s plan, at the end of June, Georgia should not receive the EU candidate status, which will be followed by unrest and involvement in the war. Such a statement made today the Chairman of Georgian Dream.

“As you know, the radical opposition continues to speak publicly about the fact that Georgia does not deserve the status of a candidate for EU membership. Their goal and calculation is simple: by the end of June, Georgia, unlike Ukraine and Moldova, should not receive EU candidate status, which they say will lead to public outcry, a coup d’etat by the United National Movement and its satellites, and Georgia’s involvement in the war.

It is well known that the EU has no reason to reject Georgia as a candidate, especially if it grants candidate status to Ukraine and Moldova. We would like to remind you that Georgia has achieved all tangible results in terms of EU integration under our government. It was under the rule of the Georgia­n Dream that we signed the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement with the European Union and adopted a visa-free regime.

Georgia is ahead of both applicant countries in all relevant parameters, which no one can deny. Among them, Georgia has already fulfilled 45 percent of its obligations under the Association Agreement, which is an unprecedented result.

According to these data, Georgia is ahead not only of Ukraine and Moldova, but also of some countries that already have candidate status. In addition, by granting candidate status, the EU does not spend any more euros on Georgia. As you know, the candidate status does not oblige the EU to provide any additional funding to Georgia.

The EU does not undertake any obligation to make the candidate country a member within a specific period of time after granting EU status.

As you know, Turkey was granted candidate status 23 years ago, however, the issue of its membership in the EU is not on the agenda at this stage. Northern Macedonia was granted the candidate status 17 years ago, Montenegro 12 years ago, Serbia 10 years ago and Albania 8 years ago. However, formal accession talks are currently being held only with Serbia and Montenegro.

A few days ago, the French Minister for European Affairs publicly stated about Ukraine that its accession to the EU will take at least 10-15 years. Given that candidate status does not impose any funding or accession obligations on the EU, it is unclear why it should refuse this status to the Georgian state and people, when our country and Government are distinguished in terms of fulfilling their membership obligations”, - said Irakli Kobakhidze.