Page 10 - GEORptJul22

Georgians rally for EU membership
no," he said.
Georgians rallied in support of European membership on June 20 following the confirmation that the country would have to wait to be granted candidate status because of democratic deficits under the ruling Georgian Dream party.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili had called for citizens to demonstrate in favour of the EU candidacy on June 16, but the demonstration date was later postponed to June 20 to correspond to the “Going Home – to Europe” rally of the civil movement "
Earlier, on June 17, the European Commission recommended to the Council that Georgia be accepted for candidate status once it meets a number of conditions and recommendations, including de-oligarchising the country and returning to the April 19, 2021 agreement between the government and opposition.
2.4 Garibashvili accuses opposition of treason over country’s failure to win EU candidate status
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili used his annual report to parliament on 22 June to lambast the opposition and to criticise the European Council for not granting the country candidate status. Opposition MPs interrupted the prime minister's speech several times. In response to his opponents' criticisms, Irakli Garibashvili repeatedly offered them "medicines and medical assistance", saying "everyone needs to be treated".
Georgia was not granted candidate status at the European Council at the June 23-24 summit, while Ukraine and Moldova Brushing aside Georgia's certain failure to win EU candidate status, Garibashvili called the main achievement of his ruling team (Georgian Dream) the "historic decision" of the European Commission and the "long-awaited" European perspective for Georgia. Later he focused on the leading positions of Georgia in various international ratings compared to Ukraine and Moldova and stated that “according to the work done” of the countries of the Associated Trio, it is Georgia that deserves the status of a candidate.
However, he also noted that "unfortunately we have not seen a merit-based decision from European leaders", which is "very disappointing". Garibashvili repeated that it was recommended to give Ukraine the candidate status because it was in a state of war, which, according to him, he was told "personally" by European friends. As for Moldova, according to him, because of the common border with Ukraine, it is also “perceived as being in a state equal to war.”
He also recalled the merits of the Georgian military in various peacekeeping missions over the years and asked the question, “despite all this, should Georgia be punished for the fact that today there is no war in Georgia?” According to the Prime Minister, although the decision to deny the status of a candidate for Georgia is emotionally “disappointing”, the country must meet this process “very calmly”. He also added that the authorities are ready to
10 GEORGIA Country Report July 2022 www.intellinews.com