Georgian PM, Ukrainian Official Trade Barbs

David Arakhamia, the leader of the Verkhovna Rada majority and member of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Servant of the People party, has slammed Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili’s claims over his agitation against Georgia’s EU candidacy in Europe and U.S. as “blantant lies.”

Presenting his annual report to Parliament yesterday, Prime Minister Garibashvili accused Arakhamia, along with the Georgian opposition, of “practically issuing an ultimatum to Europe, that if Georgia received candidate status, they would be very disappointed.”.

Arakhamia responded yesterday, saying that while he had not visited Europe at all, in the U.S., he had been busy formulating the concept that “Mr. [Bidzina] Ivanishvili is a pro-Russian oligarch with a puppet regime, who is sacrificing the Georgian nation which wants [to be in] Europe.”

Arakhamia asserted that Georgian citizens should not pay attention to the “blatant lies” of their government, specifically those by the Prime Minister, who “spreads unreliable information” at the behest of “one oligarch.”

“We Ukraine, Ukraine’s authorities will do our maximum to help Georgia become a part of the European Union,” Arakhamia added. “I am convinced that together we have a great future in Europe.”

Georgia and Moldova submitted their EU applications on March 3, following the suit of Kyiv shortly after Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24.

On June 17, the European Commission published its Opinion recommending the Council to grant European Perspective to Georgia, while it should receive candidate status once it completes a set of conditions.

On the other hand, the Commission recommended candidate status for both Ukraine and Moldova, with the expectation they continue enacting reforms.

All three of the nations that make up the Associated Trio expect the final decision to be made on their candidate status when the European Council meets at the June 23-24 summit.

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