Georgian Parliament official calls for corruption-free EU as Georgia seeks membership

For Georgia - a country aspiring to join the European Union - it is crucial that the Union remains “completely free from corruption and bribery”, not the opposite, said on Wednesday Levan Makhashvili, the Chair of the Parliamentary Committee on European Integration.

Makhashvili’s remarks came after the raids were carried out at the College of Europe in Bruges, and at the European External Action Service (EEAS) in Brussels.

The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) conducted the search related to a suspected fraud scheme tied to EU-funded training programmes for junior diplomats. The allegations reportedly involve procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and breach of professional confidentiality.

“From our point of view - as a country that seeks EU membership - it is important that this organisation be as free as possible from corruption and bribery, and not the opposite. We want it to be a closed-system in that respect. That is why it is important for Brussels to do everything to ensure that the EU remains clean from corruption and bribery - not to punish other states when they try to establish high standards of transparency in their own countries”, the Parliament official said.