“I can confirm to the Georgian population that the EU member countries convened around the round table were unanimous over Georgia’s candidate status,” said Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili following the Eastern Partnership ministerial.

According to the FM, amid the tense geopolitical environment, the ministerial summit was held to discuss how to bring the countries closer to the EU.

“The principal message that I brought from Georgia is that Georgia is ready to continue contributing to the Eastern Partnership,” he said.

Ilia Darchiashvili said that the ministers of the EU member states would spare no effort to continue cooperation so that Eastern Partnership participants received tangible results.

“The messages from each country were that they welcome the European Commission’s recommendation to the European Council to grant candidate status to Georgia and open negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on EU accession,” he said.

Ilia Darchiashvili further states that he had positive expectations about the European Council’s decision, which was “vital” for Georgia and Georgian people.

The Eastern Partnership (EaP) ministerial meeting brought together EU foreign ministers and their counterparts from five of the six Eastern Partnership countries (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine) under the chairmanship of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell. EU Commissioner Olivér Várhelyi also partook in the meeting.