**Georgia’s Foreign Policy Priorities Remain Unchanged**
The European Union should not ask Georgia to do things that are not done within the EU itself, said Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament. He was speaking in an interview with Romanian media.
Samkharadze discussed the current situation in Georgia and the country’s foreign policy perspectives. He said that while protests were ongoing after the parliamentary elections, they had decreased significantly. The opposition had claimed election fraud, but these claims were not backed by clear evidence. As a result, people gradually lost confidence in them, and the protests diminished.
**Georgia’s Priorities Remain EU and NATO Membership**
Georgia’s foreign policy priorities remain unchanged, said Samkharadze. The country’s main goal is to join the European Union and NATO. However, there are some differences in perception regarding the steps needed for EU integration. This sometimes leads to disagreements between Georgia and European institutions.
Samkharadze emphasized that Georgia wants fair treatment and consideration of its challenges and interests. He stressed that Brussels must understand Georgia’s geopolitical context, which is highly unstable and partially occupied by Russia. The EU should not demand from Georgia something that is not required of its member states, he said.
**Examples of Disagreements with the EU**
Samkharadze gave examples of disagreements between Georgia and the EU. For instance, the EU has asked Georgia to change the procedure for appointing the Prosecutor General. However, in many EU countries, the Prosecutor General is not appointed by parliament at all, or when they are, it’s done by a simple majority.
Another example is the electoral threshold – the EU wants Georgia to lower it from 5% to 2%. But in most EU countries, the threshold remains at 5%.
**Confidence in Meeting EU Accession Criteria**
Samkharadze expressed confidence that Georgia will meet the EU accession criteria by 2030. The country has candidate status and believes that it will implement all necessary reforms in the next five years.
However, support for NATO integration is not as strong as it once was. This is because Georgians are simply tired of waiting, said Samkharadze. Since the 2008 Bucharest Summit, where NATO leaders promised Georgia membership, 17 years have passed, and there has been no concrete signal about accession.
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