The EU has always called on the conflicting parties to somehow reach an agreement on the basic reforms, which are so important for Georgia. Such a statement made David McAllister, Chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee on Foreign Affairs, at the briefing with Salome Zourabichvili.

“The visit to Georgia is one of the parts of our mission in the South Caucasus. We will meet with representatives of the Parliament and Government of Georgia, representatives of the Georgian Dream and the opposition.

Of course, we will mainly talk about Georgia’s application for EU membership. I want to tell you that last month"s decision of the European Council was a truly historic decision. It was announced that Georgia was given a European perspective.

This is a recognition that the European Parliament supports the Georgian people and is ready to bring Georgia closer to the European Union, as it is a member of the European Union family. However, we believe that Georgia should address certain priorities in order to receive candidate status. These priorities were very clearly outlined in the opinion of the European Commission. We talked with Madam [Salome] Zourabichvili about how important it is for all political forces to unite, put aside their differences, talk constructively and work to achieve one goal – to receive candidate status for European membership.

Unfortunately, when we talk about Georgia, we always remember one word, that is – polarization, and it’s a process, a political discourse characterized by very harsh rhetoric and inability or unwillingness for people, opposing political parties, to work together.

The EU has always called on the conflicting parties to reach an agreement on the basic reforms, development of democracy and strengthening of the rule of law, which are so important for Georgia. Charles Michel is also involved in this process and this shows the great support that Georgia has from the European Council”, - said David McAllister.