“We are already in the process of drafting the enlargement report that will be published in October this year. I sincerely hope that enough progress will be made in order for us to be in a position to propose to our member states to move onto the next stage,” said EU Ambassador to Georgia Paweł Herczyński.

“Georgia is a candidate country for EU membership. We have all celebrated this historic step. The decision has been taken by unanimity, by 27 member states, but in order to become a full member of the European Union, Georgia needs to change, and those changes need to be transformations. We want Georgia to be ready, to become a member of the European Union that would benefit both the EU and Georgia. This is why we need reforms, some of the reforms are not easy and they require a lot of effort and require everyone to work together in order to provide a compass, a roadmap, together with a positive decision on the candidate status.

We have designed the so-called 9 steps. These are the reforms that are necessary for Georgia to advance on the path toward EU membership. We will assess the progress made from October last year till October this year, the work is ongoing. There are a lot of positive elements: we see commitment, dedication, and legislative initiatives. At the same time, there are open issues where we need to sit down and discuss and talk,” he said.

The Ambassador said it was his responsibility to make sure that “contacts are as intensive as possible.”

“We plan several high-level visits involving EU institutions and 27 member states to intensify the dialogue, why, because we cannot waste time. Time is precious, we are already in the process of drafting the enlargement report that will be published in October this year, again with recommendations from the European Commission to move forward to the next step or to wait. I sincerely hope that enough progress will be made in order for us to be in a position to propose to our member states to move onto the next stage,” he said.

Ambassador Herczyński remarked that 9 steps include serious reforms including judiciary reforms.

“If you look at the 9 steps, they include serious reforms, including judiciary reforms, and this is why we need to sit down and talk, we need to hear each other’s arguments, and what is most important is, that both the European Union wants Georgia to become our family and all political parties in the parliament have exactly the same wish. So, if there is a wish, I am sure there is a way,” he said.