Georgia optimistic about obtaining EU candidate status by year's end

BRUSSELS

The EU will grant candidate status to Georgia before the end of 2023, Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili said Wednesday.

She said she wants to see Georgia overcome local and international challenges and embark firmly on the path of full European integration.

Zurabishvili addressed Members of the European Parliament during a two-day session of the General Assembly in Brussels and said there is only one way to achieve that goal: To ensure that Georgia is granted candidate country status by the EU by the end of the year.

"I am confident about that," she said.

Zurabishvili's address to European parliamentarians came one day before a European Political Community (EPC) Meeting, which will bring together European leaders and the heads of EU institutions in Chisinau, the capital of Moldova.

Following the conflict in Ukraine, Georgia, along with Ukraine and Moldova, applied for membership in the EU.

While Ukraine and Moldova's applications resulted in the granting of candidate country status, the EU said Georgia's situation would be reevaluated at a later stage.

Members of Parliament also discussed proposals such as postponing Hungary's six-month rotating presidency of the EU, scheduled for July 2024, or limiting its powers.

Hungary has been criticized by the EU for some time due to setbacks in principles such as democracy and the rule of law.