I am pleased to have the privilege of addressing you once again during the Annual Conference of Ambassadors. This conference has evolved into a significant platform for discussing our country’s foreign policy priorities, accomplishments, and challenges in recent years, - the Speaker of the Parliament of Georgia said in his speech at the Conference of Ambassadors 2023.

He congratulated the conference participants on attaining the status of a candidate for EU membership and emphasized that despite facing both internal and external challenges, Georgia has achieved one of its most significant victories in modern history.

“This is a significant milestone on our path to European Union membership, and we all played a crucial role in achieving this historic and well-deserved decision. Together with the Government, and in close coordination with them, Parliament has worked diligently to implement the EU’s recommendations and carry out the necessary reforms. Approximately one-third of our parliamentary activities were dedicated to fulfilling the EU’s recommendations. Moreover, just like the government, nearly the entire Parliament engaged in diplomatic efforts with the European Commission and EU member states, ultimately resulting in the attainment of candidate status.

The success of our parliamentary diplomatic endeavors would not have been possible without your active and professional support. Therefore, in addition to my congratulations, I extend my gratitude for your professionalism. You have made a significant contribution to strengthening our country’s European future”, - said Shalva Papuashvili.

According to him, we have already achieved one of the two fundamental steps on the path to EU membership - we have gained the candidate status. After this most important decision, we should start with even more energy towards the second step - walking towards full membership in the EU.

“The year-and-a-half process of obtaining candidate status has shown that our main concern should not be on which day or month this or that stage will begin, but rather that the overall process ends as soon as possible, with less hysteria and more focus on the result. This endeavor brings us closer to EU membership, while hysteria takes us further away from it. That’s why we will continue to approach the EU, ensuring that in case of strategic readiness on the part of the EU, we can conclude the negotiations promptly from the outset”, - said the Speaker.