On a recent visit to Georgia together with other Members of European Parliament, German ECR MEP Lars Patrick Berg, commented:
“Georgia is an important economic and energy policy partner for the EU. Also from a geostrategic point of view, Georgia’s engagement for peace & stability in the region is of huge importance.”
▶️ #Georgien 🇬🇪 ist für die #Europäische_Union ein wichtiger wirtschafts- und energiepolitischer Partner. Auch aus geostrategischer Sicht ist das Engagement Georgiens für #Frieden/#Stabilität in der Region für die #EU 🇪🇺 von großer Bedeutung. pic.twitter.com/l7tnSa6vLp
— Lars Patrick Berg MdEP (@L_P_Berg) April 12, 2022
MEP Berg met, amongst others, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, the first woman to be elected as Georgia’s president, as well as Georgian MPs Maka Botchorishvili (Chair of the EU Integration Committee) and Levan Karumidze (First Deputy Chairman of European Integration Committee).
Georgia’s EU membership bid was the focus of the Georgian Prime Minister’s discussion with the MEPs . PM Garibashvili talked about the EU institutions’ support for the accession of the Associated Trio countries – Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
I am and will be directly involved in bringing 🇬🇪 closer to the EU. Georgia’s European choice is unwavering, the basis of national accord
The membership questionnaire received is a major step, which we talked about with MEPs @lukasmandl @juozas_olekas @ElenaYoncheva @L_P_Berg pic.twitter.com/Opyi1ucbvb
— Salome Zourabichvili (@Zourabichvili_S) April 11, 2022
We need to show more support for our #European neighbours. Had a meaningful meeting with @MakaB__ and @KarumidzeL from the #Georgian Parliament 🇬🇪 pic.twitter.com/5YQIxIb0Cw
— Lars Patrick Berg MdEP (@L_P_Berg) May 4, 2022
As part of their wider visit to Georgia, Members of the European Parliament’s Sub-Committee on Security and Defence (SEDE), also paid a visit to the European Union Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM). EUMM Head of Mission, Ambassador Marek Szczygieł hosted the Delegation on a visit to the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) with South Ossetia.
Around the same time, Oliver Varhelyi, the European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, handed over the European Union membership questionnaire to the Georgian Foreign Minister, Ilia Darchiashvili.
The questionnaire contains 369 questions, which Agenda.ge notes is significantly less than ones received by other countries that are interested to join the EU as these have included about 2,000 to 5,000 questions. Once the Georgian authorities have responded to the questionnaire, the European Commission will prepare its report and forward it to the European Council. Georgia has 1.5 months to complete the questionnaire.
Georgia officially issued its application for EU membership on 3 March 2022, when Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili signing the country’s membership application.
Commissioner @OliverVarhelyi has handed the questionnaire to Foreign Minister @iliadarch. 🇬🇪's European integration has now been upgraded to another level. We're looking forward to continuing working in this direction & achieving the ultimate goal – becoming the member of the 🇪🇺! pic.twitter.com/7mDzuR48QM
— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) April 11, 2022