Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili states that relations with Western partners are at a high level.

According to Papuashvili, this year the country achieved the result of adopting a European perspective, which is a "historical occurrence".

In addition, as the Chairman of the Parliament stated on PalitraNews TV in connection with the relations with strategic partners, during his visit to the EU member states, the attitude was seen that it was a mistake not to grant Georgia a status together with Moldova and Ukraine.

"Relations with Western partners are at a high level. This year we achieved the result that the European perspective of Georgia was recognized. This is a historical occurrence in the direction of foreign policy. It is important not to mix up Georgia's relations with other states and the media reality that various foreign politicians are trying to create.

As for the EU membership status, during the visits to many EU member states, the same attitude was expressed that it was a mistake not to give Georgia a status together with Moldova and Ukraine; there is a recognition that Georgia is the leading country in the Associated Trio, and with this recognition, there is a disappointment that we were not given the status of a candidate at the right time," Papuashvili said.

When asked what the Georgian government did in order to get the candidate status, Papuashvili answered that the decision is made not only by the criteria of whether the country deserves the status or not, but it also has a political dimension.

"The government has made Georgia the number one country in the world in terms of budget transparency. No country is ahead of us. If we look at the corruption perception rankings, Georgia is 45th in the world with the lowest level of corruption, while Moldova is 103rd and Ukraine is 120th. The government of Georgia has managed that in the Associated Trio, it is at the forefront in fulfilling the Association Agreement.

On the one hand, it is a merit based decision and on the other, it is a political decision. Do you remember the French president's statement that geopolitics is also important? Georgia was meant here," he said.

The Speaker of the Parliament spoke in the context of the implementation of the recommendations of the European Commission,

"As for the implementation of the 12-point recommendation, this year, 30% of the laws adopted by the Parliament were devoted to the implementation of the recommendations. Parliament adopted 81 laws/amendments to implement the recommendations. Issues where the opposition was involved in the working groups, you will see depolarization, deradicalization. The three groups that were not involved (National Movement and its affiliated parties) refused constructive cooperation.

If anyone is planning to reduce radicalization, it is the government. The government's natural interest is deradicalization, depolarization, and peace in the country. At the same time, the opposition is particularly interested in stirring up the situation in order for it to come to power," said Shalva Papuashvili.

source: IPN