“The work on 12 priorities is clearly in progress. Several weeks ago, the European Commission presented the so-called oral update. According to the EC, out of the 12 recommendations, three have been fully implemented,” said Pawel Herczynski, EU Ambassador to Georgia.

The EU Ambassador said that with two recommendations Georgia needs to accelerate.

“This is the freedom of media and de-oligarchization bill. On the remaining seven recommendations there is some progress but we are waiting for further progress. So, the picture is mixed, which from my point of view is rather positive. There is still time. The European Commission will issue the enlargement report in October, and of course, we are all looking forward to the decision to be taken by 27 EU member states, at the highest political level, at the level of EU heads of government about the next steps when it comes to EU-Georgia relationship.

This decision is expected in December, and I sincerely hope that Georgia will move one step forward on its path to EU membership which means candidate status, but again it is in the hands of 27 EU member states,” he said.

Pawel Herczynski attended Georgia’s Path to EU conference organized by the Georgian parliament and non-governmental organizations.

“Excellent meeting today. A conference organized by the Georgian parliament and civil society organizations linked together in the Eastern partnership platform. The topic of the meeting could not be better. It is about the challenges of the European integration of Georgia.

I am really happy that this meeting is taking place. This is Georgian politics at its best. We have representatives of the ruling party, the opposition, and many civil society organizations discussing in a frank open manner the biggest challenge that is facing Georgia, namely, the European Union membership. So, very substantive and concrete discussions, and I am really happy that the EU was supporting this meeting,” he said.