Georgia President Hails EU Candidate Status As 'monumental Milestone'

Tbilisi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 15th Dec, 2023) Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili on Thursday welcomed as a "monumental milestone" the decision of European Union leaders to grant Tbilisi a long-awaited formal candidate status.

At a summit in Brussels on Thursday, European Union leaders agreed to open formal membership negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova -- despite an earlier threat from Hungary to veto the deal - and to grant Tbilisi candidate status.

"Today signifies a monumental milestone for Georgia and our European family!" Zurabishvili said on social media.

"The unwavering will of the Georgian people has spoken, leading to the well-deserved attainment of candidate status."

Tbilisi applied for EU membership together with Ukraine and Moldova after Russia unleashed its all-out war on Ukraine.

In 2022, the EU granted candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but urged Tbilisi to first implement judicial and electoral reforms, improve press freedom and curtail the power of oligarchs.

In November, the European Commission recommended that EU leaders grant Georgia official candidate status -- with the caveat that the Tbilisi government introduce reforms.

But Tbilisi had expressed concerns that a threat by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban to block key decisions on Ukraine at the forthcoming EU summit could affect Georgia's chances of obtaining candidate status at the same time.

A European diplomatic source told AFP that Orban had agreed not to be in the room when the other 26 leaders backed a consensus decision.

EU membership is enshrined in Georgia's constitution and supported -- according to opinion polls -- by around 80 percent of the population.