Parliament official credits Georgian Dream party for EU integration progress

Vladimir Bozhadze, the First Deputy Chair of the Environmental Protection and Natural Resources Committee of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday said that every step taken toward EU integration had been achieved thanks to the efforts of the ruling Georgian Dream party.

In his remarks, Bozhadze reaffirmed the ruling party’s commitment to ensuring that Georgia becomes the “most prepared” EU candidate state by 2030.

“Everything that has been done on the path to European Union integration is the merit of the Georgian Dream [party]. And of course, we will do all our best to make sure that, in 2030, Georgia is the most prepared candidate country for EU membership”, the Parliament official said.

Bozhadze further emphasised that the opposition had obstructed the signing of the Association Agreement with the EU, which included provisions on visa free travel and free trade.

“The opposition has always sought - starting from the very time when visa liberalisation was being discussed - to prevent the signing of the Association Agreement, to stop us from obtaining visa free travel and free trade [with the EU]. You remember how they used to speculate. The opposition, together with some EU bureaucrats and certain countries, wanted to apply this mechanism [suspension of visa liberalisation], but they could not, because there was no legal basis for it. Now the opposition is trying to present themselves as defenders of visa-free travel”, he noted.

The statement comes amids ongoing discussions within the EU regarding the visa liberalization policy and increased scrutiny on countries with visa-free access.