“The Georgian people and the Georgian government did a lot to fulfil the conditions required for candidate status and we welcome that the Commission made this proposal, said János Bóka, Hungarian Minister for European Union Affairs.

We welcome the Commission’s proposal to grant candidate status to Georgia. This has been said by the minister of foreign affairs and this is the position of the government. The Georgian people and the Georgian government did a lot to fulfil the conditions required for candidate status and we welcome that the Commission made this proposal,” he said.

Speaking about EU enlargement ahead of the ministerial in Brussels, János Bóka noted that the process comprises, on the one hand, the Western Balkans, and, on the other, Eastern neighbourhood.

“We think that there are 2 enlargement processes. One is the oldest enlargement business, all the enlargement businesses in the Western Balkans. we made a promise to the Western Balkan countries for a European perspective 20 years ago. We think this enlargement process in the Western Balkans should be accelerated. As far as the enlargement on the Eastern front is concerned it needs a careful consideration. In the case of Georgia, we support granting candidate status to Georgia,” he said.