Page 12 - GEORptOct22

Union and Georgia are at a high level, and Georgia firmly follows the European path. The prime minister thanked the new EU ambassador for his steadfast support of Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty and wished him success in his future work.
EU High Representative Josep Borrell announced the appointment of a new EU ambassador to Georgia on 8 June. Pawel Herczynski was European External Action Service (EEAS) Managing Director for the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and Crisis Response, and also served as Director for Security and Defence Policy at the EEAS. Prior to that, he was the Polish ambassador to the EU Political and Security Committee (PSC).
2.6 EU says Georgia needs to accelerate reforms to become a candidate
Georgian parliament to set up working groups to address EU accession requirements
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said that Georgia needs to accelerate reforms in areas such as the rule of law, the independence of justice, and media freedom before it can be granted the status of a European Union membership candidate.
"These are crucial areas when it comes to European values and principles, and we count on Georgia's effort to address the existing shortcomings," Borrell told reporters after meeting Georgia's Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels to discuss his country's EU membership bid on September 6.
In June, EU leaders granted Ukraine and its neighbour Moldova candidate status, while Georgia, another post-Soviet state, was told it would get the same once it had implemented more recommendations.
"European Union accession is a merit-based process, there are no short-cuts and no magic involved, it's not a matter of political declarations," Borrell said.
Georgia's government and the EU have been on rocky terms. The country's domestic politics also has been highly polarised since the EU bid. Rallies have been constant since citizens don't believe that the government is putting enough effort into fulfilling the recommendations.
The Georgian Parliament will create five working groups to handle the conditions underlined by the European Union for granting the country membership candidate status, announced Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee on August 4.
The issues of 'deoligarchisation', judicial reform, the electoral code and the creation of an anti-corruption agency, a special investigative service and a personal data protection service are in particular focus, reported Georgian Public TV.
Anri Okhanashvili, the Chair of the Parliament's Legal Affairs Committee, said the political parties had asked for time to work out the issues on the Ukrainian model of 'deoligarchisation' before presenting their proposals.
The ruling party has called on the opposition to cooperate. Ruling Georgian Dream representatives said that fulfilling the requirements, such as
12 GEORGIA Country Report October 2022 www.intellinews.com