Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili will address the 4th Summit of Leaders in Reykjavík, Iceland, on Wednesday. The PM attended the Summit’s opening at the Harpa conference hall last night.

Prime Minister of Iceland, Katrín Jakobsdóttir and Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Marija Pejčinović Burić, hosted the high-ranking guests.

British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, President of Poland Andrzej Duda, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Summit participants.

In his speech, the Georgian Prime Minister will address Europe’s challenges and emphasize reforms implemented by the Georgian government over the previous ten years.

Irakli Garibashvili, accompanied by the delegation, will also hold bilateral meetings within the framework of the Summit.

“Our main message will be that Georgia, our country, and our people deserve candidate status. It is our irreversible choice. Georgia should receive the merit-based status because it will be a message of Europe to our population, people and country, and we do not expect any other decision,” Garibashvili said.

The PM underlined Georgia has to do a lot to persuade the European partners that there is no other alternative.

“However, if our European friends want to end polarization in the country, want peace, stability and Georgia’s pushing onward, I certainly expect that Georgia will have candidate status at the year-end,” he stated.

The Summit of Heads of State and Government of the Council of Europe is underway in Reykjavík on May 16–17, 2023. It is the fourth time in the 74-year history of the organization that the leaders of the member states meet under the auspices of the Council.