President Salomé Zurabishvili criticized the ruling Georgian Dream party for making “somewhat incomprehensible statements sometimes about MEPs and sometimes about Europe”, as the country awaits the opinion of the European Commission on its candidacy for the European Union. accession and the subsequent EU decision on the application.

“In a moment when we know we are waiting for decisions, we hear statements – moreover more on the side of the majority [party] — that are either reckless or unnecessary, I don’t know,” she said in a lengthy interview with Palitranews TV, released June 2.

The president too Okay with EU Ambassador Carl Hartzell’s recent assessment that Georgia could have been better prepared for its EU bid.

“You can always prepare better,” argued President Zurabishvili. “A lot of things could have been done differently. The rhetoric could have been different, that’s what I’m sure.

“I don’t see the logic behind it,” the president commented on scathing remarks by several GD officials towards MEPs who criticized the state of democracy and the rule of law in Georgia. “First of all, some things won’t be said [by GD members] because it’s a matter of politeness, and then there’s the opportunity of it all.

“When you know there is a sensitive moment, you have to be wary of the statements that can be made,” she added.

” You have to work [our] partners, not scold them,” the president also stressed. “If we don’t want there to be a critical attitude towards the Georgian government, we still have to work with MEPs, in Brussels, on public relations…”

“Instead of criticizing them, we should consider either what steps we should take to not deserve the criticism, or if we consider the criticism to be undeserved, it means that we were unable or did not explain the reality that we want to present. , it was not delivered to the right addresses”, affirmed the president.

Commenting on whether growing concerns in the West over developments in Georgia will affect the country’s aspirations, the president said she believed the European Commission’s opinion would be “critical on certain aspects, for example judicial reforms”.

Namely, the president suggested that the document could criticize the unaddressed provisions of the April 19 agreement brokered by European Council President Charles Michel between the GD and the opposition, which the ruling party leave unilaterally in July 2021.

Still, President Zurabishvili said she hopes that when it comes to a “political decision” on whether to apply for part of the European Council “the geopolitical situation will be taken into account, not just mistakes. .but the Georgia situation [is in] today, the fact that the population is completely turned towards Europe, that we have come a long way.

“On such a long road, only the statements or mistakes of this past year should not be decisive,” pleaded the president.

“I don’t think they will chase us away,” she continued, adding “I believe that despite our many mistakes – whether in word or deed – the decision will be made at a higher and more far-sighted level.” .

The president suggested that eventual candidate status could be conditional on the resolution of the unrealized part of the reforms envisaged in the April 19 agreement, “which are simply set aside and not forgotten”.

“We have to realize that these steps will be necessary and inevitable, whether we like it or not, whether we believe it weakens or strengthens someone,” she said. “These are steps that need to be taken.”

Overall, in the interview, the President summarized that over the past year or year and a half, the GD has not “always taken the steps that have been taken”, that whether it is the “collapsed, cancelled” agreement with EU mediation or the agreement preemptive refusal of the EU loan conditional on court reform.

Asked to comment on the ruling party’s recent claims that the opposition is campaigning in the EU against granting Georgia’s candidacy, the president placed the main responsibility on the GD government.

However, President Zurabishvili said that “the opposition is clearly exploiting each of the [the GD’s] errors”, raising the questions in Brussels. “They are calling [the mistakes, claiming] they belong only to the government and must not damage the reputation of the country.

But, the opposition which criticizes in Brussels the steps of the GD government “has an effect on the country and its reputation”, she affirmed.

However, “if there was no reason”, the opposition would not be able to address the problems in Brussels, affirmed the president. “So you shouldn’t give them a reason to.”

Georgia filed for EU membership on March 3, following in the footsteps of Ukraine, which filed at the start of the Russian invasion. Moldova also submitted its application on the same day as Georgia.

Georgia’s move came amid strained relations between the GD government and Brussels, among other things over the controversy Supreme Court and appointment, DG preventative refusal of the EU conditional loan, and Georgia alleged espionage on Western diplomats.

The Georgian dream has also drawn a lot of international criticism, especially from the WE and EU for the dismantling of the service of the outspoken state inspector, the body investigating abuses of power, a decision that came amid the agency’s investigation into the alleged inhumane treatment of the former president imprisoned Mikheil Saakashvili.

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