“The EU’s enlargement policy has a much bigger strategic importance and role today,” said the Chair of the EU Integration Committee, Maka Botchorishvili on Monday.

Botchorishvili noted that “Georgia has a successful track record of implementing reforms under the Association Agreement, which laid a firm foundation for advancing new opportunities for EU integration as a candidate country.”

“This year marks the 20th anniversary of the EU’s biggest enlargement, which widened the space of peace, stability, and prosperity in Europe. But it could not create the same conditions in the EU’s neighborhood, despite multiple attempts under the neighborhood policy.

Russia’s aggressive actions made it clear that different steps are needed to safeguard the future of Europe. The EU’s enlargement policy has a much bigger strategic importance and role today. We do not have the luxury of keeping the process as slow as it has been in the last decade.

We all need effective mechanisms for integration and the removal of existing barriers, where possible, to accelerate the process of economic and political integration of candidate countries into the European Union. An individual approach is necessary, but possibilities for all candidate countries should be similar.

Georgia has a successful track record of implementing reforms under the Association Agreement, which laid a firm foundation for advancing new opportunities for EU integration as a candidate country. I hope that our discussions will contribute to increasing the speed and efficiency of enlargement policy, which is in our common interest and this is directly linked to the wider European stability and security,” she stated.