TBILISI, November 10. /TASS/. Tbilisi does not need the EU to simply throw it a bone by granting it candidate status, as Georgia expects this to lead somewhere, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili told Radio France Info in an interview.
"Europe should not be granting us the status [of a candidate country] just like that, like it’s throwing us a bone. [Granting] this status should be followed by European support," she said.
The parliamentary election slated for next fall, will be an important factor in determining where Georgia’s relations with the European Union go, the Georgian president added. According to Zourabichvili, following the vote, her country should shift from single-party rule to being led by a coalition government.
The head of the European Commission (EC), Ursula von der Leyen, said on November 8 that the EU’s executive arm recommended that the EU Council start accession negotiations with Moldova and Ukraine and grant Georgia EU candidate status. The EC released a positive assessment of the progress Georgia had achieved in reforms but said that more effort is still needed.