Hope, the decision of EU member states on Georgia’s membership candidate status would be positive and the country would get closer to the bloc’s membership. Such a statement made today Pawel Herczynski, the European Union Ambassador to Georgia.

“I sincerely hope that Georgia will continue its path toward membership of the European Union. The next step as everyone knows is the candidate status. The decision will be made by 27 EU member states this December. It will be based on the report that the European Commission is currently drafting and will be published in October. So, now we are entering into a key moment when there will be a report from the European Commission with recommendations, and you will have a meeting with heads of 27 member states in December, who will decide on the next steps.

I hope that the decision will be positive and that Georgia will get closer to the membership. This is a process. It will take some time, but a lot also depends on how quickly and how efficiently Georgia is prepared for future membership. We all want this to happen as quickly as possible.

For the first time, we have a suggestion of a date – 2030, and it means only in seven-year time and this is by European standards compared to the previous wakes of enlargement. This is a suggestion from the President of the European Council for the discussion to start. I think this is a very ambitious target. But I am sure that if Georgia is committed and if there are certain changes, there will be consent from the 27 member states.

What was very important in this speech is that Charles Michel was also referring to the need from us, 27 member states, to be ready for enlargement. So, it is very good that the discussion is starting. We need to be ready for the absorption of new member states, so, it is not only homework for candidate countries including Georgia, it is also our internal homework on the part of the European Union to make sure that in 2030, around that date, we can have another wave of enlargement and I sincerely hope that Georgia will be a part of it”, - said the Ambassador.