Georgia To Serve EU Interests Only After Receiving Member Status - Ruling Party Chief

(@FahadShabbir)

Georgia to Serve EU Interests Only After Receiving Member Status - Ruling Party Chief

Georgia will make decisions which suit the joint interests of the European Union after it becomes its member, and for now it is a sovereign country, Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said on Tuesday

TBILISI (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 30th May, 2023) Georgia will make decisions which suit the joint interests of the European Union after it becomes its member, and for now it is a sovereign country, Secretary General of the ruling Georgian Dream party and Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze said on Tuesday.

"Georgia is not yet a member state of the European Union. We are an independent, sovereign country, which looks toward Europe and European integration. Once we have the (member) status, once we are an EU member state, of course we will be making decisions that suit (our) joint interests," Kaladze told reporters in response to critical remarks implying that Georgia does not pay heed to the EU and is unwilling to join Russia sanctions, in particular, by not banning direct flights between the countries.

On Monday, EU Ambassador to Tbilisi Pavel Gerchinsky said that he had passed along the EU's message to the Georgian side, in which the EU expresses its regret over the decision by Tbilisi to resume direct flights to Moscow.

Earlier in May, Russian President Vladimir Putin lifted a ban on Russian airlines flying directly to Georgia, introduced in 2019. In a separate decree, Putin also canceled the visa regime for Georgian citizens with the exception of those going to work in Russia, effective May 15.