The decision on Georgia’s EU membership candidate status will not be bureaucratic, but very political, said Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili at the meeting with students and community representatives in Kutaisi, within the framework of the national consent process.

According to the President, today, Georgia’s European integration path is “completely different.”

“We were saying we would apply [candidate status] in 2024 and even that was a bit artificial approach. Today, Georgia has applied for EU membership and this is a merit of the daily struggle of the Ukrainians, for which we can express our gratitude. Without it, this would be impossible and we should know this, admit it and not assume that we did something that suddenly made us worthy of everything. It’s their merit! It is true that we have been preparing for this for years, we may have been preparing more than other associated countries, but today it’s their merit,” said the President.

In addition, the President said that the decision made by the European Union would be not bureaucratic, but political.

“The current situation is that whatever decision is made will be a political decision based on the war in Ukraine, and it is the result of the heroic struggle of the Ukrainians. They, we and Moldova are in a different dimension, we do not know how far it will go, but the fact is that the decision today will be not bureaucratic, but very political,” President Zourabichvili said.