Eight opposition MPs, Armaz Akhvlediani, Teona Akubardia, Ana Buchukuri, Khatia Dekanoidze, Tamar Kordzaia, Ana Natsvlishvili, Salome Samadashvili and Khatuna Samnidze are demanding the government to publicize the EU questionnaire.

MPs urge EU Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement Oliver Varhelyi to “help in facilitating the process” with the Georgian authorities as “the government has shown reluctance to do so, asserting that it needs to seek the EU authorization to do so.”

MPs today sent a letter to Oliver Varhelyi, saying that “the people, the parliamentary opposition and interested parties from the NGO sector, all have a great interest in transparency of the process.”

Below is the full statement:

“First of all, we would like to thank you for your personal contribution to speedy delivery of the EU questionnaire regarding Georgia’s application for the EU membership, filed last month on behalf of our country.

It is extremely encouraging that the European Union has shown political commitment to accelerating the procedure for Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova. Despite our many differences with the ruling Georgian Dream Party, considering that becoming a member of the European Union is a historical choice of the Georgian people, we, representatives of the opposition parties and independent MPs strongly support the success of Georgia’s bid for the EU membership.

In this particular communication we will not bring your attention to all the outstanding issues which face democracy, rule of law and respect for fundamental rights in our country. We have addressed both you and the EU institutions with those concerns on numerous occasions. What is clear though, is that without substantial reforms, Georgia’s progress on difficult road of the EU membership will be uneasy. With this in mind and to facilitate parliamentary oversight over the process of preparation of the response to the EU questionnaire by the relevant executive agencies, we have requested from the government to release the questionnaire to public, as the people, the parliamentary opposition and interested parties from the NGO sector, all have a great interest in transparency of the process. So far the government has shown reluctance to do so, asserting that it needs to seek the EU authorization to do so.

It is our understanding that after informing the EU, the receiving party – i.e. the Georgian government – has a discretion to make the EU questionnaire public. We would like request your kind assistance in facilitating the relevant process with the Georgian authorities. If any EU procedures are precluding the government from doing so, we would also appreciate to be informed regarding those,” MPs asserted in the letter.