On May 1, the European Commission’s Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, arrived in Georgia. He has already met with the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili.
During his two-day visit, Director General Koopman is scheduled to meet with Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, Minister of Economy and Vice Prime Minister Levan Davitashvili, Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, Speaker of Parliament Shalva Papuashvili, representatives of various political parties, civil society organizations and the investment community.
Just arrived in Tbilisi.
Looking forward to meeting with President, Government, Parliament & civil society. Georgians worked hard to get candidate status.
Current challenges need to be tackled and we are here to help to address them. pic.twitter.com/mDpciOmBSt
— Gert Jan Koopman (@GertJanEU) May 1, 2024
Meeting with the President
The European Commission’s Director General for Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations, Gert Jan Koopman, and the President of Georgia, Salome Zurabishvili, held a meeting to discuss the situation in the country midst the ongoing developments around the Foreign Agents Law and noted that the visit comes at a crucial time for Georgia’s European integration.
According to the press release of the President’s Administration, the President emphasized to Director General Koopman that the EU’s granting of candidate status to Georgia has given great impetus and hope to Georgians who are now defending their European future and need the help of European friends and partners. “It is clear that Russia is using all means to stop Georgia’s progress towards Europe,” – the President emphasized.
The President underlined the crucial importance of the October elections and spoke about the importance of holding the elections in a stable and peaceful environment, as “the Georgian people should once again choose the European future of Georgia”. She also spoke about the importance of the “Unity Platform for Europe“, which is a place for political parties to come together and draw up a concrete joint plan on the reforms to be implemented after the elections for EU integration.
The discussions also focused on the Russia’s war in Ukraine, the situation in the region and in the occupied territories of Georgia.
Gert Jan Koopman expressed the EU’s “extreme concern” about current events in Georgia and the government’s decisions. According to the press release, the Director General stressed that “the adoption of the law “On Transparency of Foreign Influence” is a great threat to Georgia’s European integration and will undoubtedly hinder this process. According to him, in June the European Union will discuss a new stage of expansion, and therefore it is extremely important for the Georgian government to become constructive and not to damage the country’s European integration process”.
More to follow…