Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze said that Ukraine and Moldova are ahead of Georgia only in terms of negative indicators. He made the comment on the European Commission’s decision regarding the preparatory documents for EU enlargement. This was reported by the Georgian outlet Sova News, as cited by UNN.
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According to the outlet, the European Commission has already approved the preparatory documents for enlargement concerning four candidate countries: Ukraine, Moldova, Albania, and Montenegro.
At the same time, European Commissioner for Enlargement Marta Kos said that Georgia remains a candidate "only on paper." She also said that she would like to see the country "at the same level as Moldova and Ukraine."
"If Moldova and Ukraine are ahead of Georgia in anything, it is exclusively in terms of negative indicators. God forbid that we should overtake Moldova and Ukraine in anything like that. We have our own path. Our path is peace and economic development, and we will certainly continue to follow it," Kobakhidze said.
In addition, according to the prime minister, Tbilisi would like to see a "fair, proper, and healthy approach" from the European Commission.
"We have clearly outlined our political intentions and will, which means continuing along the path toward European integration. You know that 90% of the obligations under the Association Agreement have already been fulfilled. We are conscientiously fulfilling our obligations. You know what the situation is in Georgia — how far ahead we are, by 1,000 steps, of both Ukraine and Moldova and other candidate countries. The rest is already a matter of a healthy attitude. If the European Commission demonstrates a healthy attitude toward Georgia, European integration will continue unhindered," the official said