The Prime Minister of Georgia announced that he would like his country to apply to join the European Union in 2024. “By that time, reforms must be carried out to make this possible,” said Irakli Garibashvili at the UN General Assembly.
The head of the Georgian government said that his country will not “rest” until it becomes a member of the European Union and NATO. In Georgia, he said, reforms and modernization “of all aspects of our democracy and economy will continue to reach the highest world standards.”
According to him, efforts to join NATO and the EU are supported by the majority of Georgian society. Russia wants to thwart annexation plans, the prime minister said, noting that it occupied 20 percent of Georgia’s territory. Prime Minister Garibashvili called on the UN to “put an end to Russia’s illegal occupation of sovereign Georgian lands,” meaning South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The application for membership in the European Union is one of many points on the path to membership. The accession treaty agreed during this process with the candidate for the Community must then be ratified by all current EU member states. In 2014, Georgia signed an Association Agreement with the European Union. In March 2017, citizens of this country were allowed to enter the Schengen countries without a visa.