“We are working very closely with Georgia, and Ireland is very supportive of Georgia in that process,” said Peter Burke, Minister of State for European Affairs and for Defence of Ireland, ahead of the informal meeting of European Affairs Ministers in Stockholm, Sweden.

“We are working very closely with Georgia, and Ireland is very supportive of Georgia in that process. I recently met with the Ambassador of Georgia to Ireland and discussed many of the pressing issues and the reform that their country is going through, so we will absolutely support them in that reform.

It’s important that we ensure that countries, who are coming into Europe, have met with all the chapters on the Acquis and are familiar with them and that they have met that threshold because that makes it easier for the operability of the European Union post-accession. So we’re really working hard with Georgia.

We support them along the process, and any assistance that they need to reach that threshold, we will obviously be forthcoming in that regard because, as I said previously, it’s very important for us as Irish people. Irish citizens, we realize the transformational effect membership in the European Union can have. And we saw that in our country over the last 50 years. It’s been quite incredible. It’s been potentially one of the biggest policy, public policy tools that have had an enormous catalyst in how we transform our economy and how we operate, and how we look as a more outward-looking economy post our membership of the European Union,” he said.