PM Led Georgian Delegation at Granada European Summit

The Georgian delegation headed by the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili attended the Third Summit of the European Political Community (EPC) held in Granada, Spain on October 5-6. The visit centered around the anticipated report of the European Commission on Georgia’s fulfillment of the twelve conditions for becoming the candidate for membership in the EU.

The summit was attended by the heads of 47 European countries and heads of various institutions of the European Union.

The Prime Minister participated in a thematic discussion on “Multilateralism, Security and Geopolitical Developments” and held meetings with his counterparts from various countries. He also met the President of the European Commission.

Following the conclusion of the visit, PM Garibashvili wrote that he was “delighted”to participate and hold “fruitful” discussions with European leaders, where he highlighted “substantial progress” towards the fulfillment of the EC’s twelve conditions. Due to this progress, PM said, Georgia “truly deserves to receive the EU candidate status later this year.”

During the meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, the parties discussed Georgia’s path towards EU integration and the implementation of the 12 conditions. According to the Government’s press release, Prime Minister Garibashvili emphasized the “importance” of granting Georgia candidate status by the end of this year, both in the regional and global context.

PM Garibashvili held a meeting with his Slovenian counterpart, Robert Golob. The head of the Georgian Government expressed his hope for Slovenia’s firm support at every stage of Georgia’s accession to the European family and congratulated Robert Golob on Slovenia’s election as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council.

The same messages were given during the meeting of Prime Minister Garibashvili with the Prime Minister of Greece Kyriakos Mitsotakis. After discussing the process of Georgia’s integration into the EU, the parties also discussed the importance of further deepening of cooperation between the countries.

PM Garibashvili expressed hope to his Finnish counterpart, Petteri Orpo, that Georgia would receive robust political and practical support from the Republic of Finland. The two parties also deliberated on potential concrete measures to further enhance trade and economic relations between Georgia and Finland. PM Garibashvili expressed his gratitude to Petteri Orpo for Finland’s unwavering support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. Both leaders underscored the productive cooperation between their respective countries within international organizations.

The meeting with the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic was reportedly dedicated to discussing “friendly relations in bilateral and multilateral spheres,” the two discussed plans for future cooperation.

Future prospects of relationship and cooperation between Georgia and Bulgaria were discussed at the meeting between PM Garibashvili and the Prime Minister of Bulgaria, Nikolai Denkov. It was noted that Georgia deems Bulgaria to be a friendly nation and reliable partner. As noted at the meeting, trade and economic relations between the countries have been among the significant areas of bilateral cooperation between the countries, as Bulgaria constantly remains within the Top 10 Trading Partners of Georgia for years. The Prime Minister of Georgia expressed his gratitude to his Bulgarian colleague for the firm support of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and European integration of Georgia.

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