On June 1-2, Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili met with European Commissioners Adina Valean (Transport), Virginijus Sinkevičius (Environment), Janez Lenarčič (Crisis Management), Johannes Hahn (Budget and Administration), and Janusz Wojciechowski (Agriculture), as well as MEPs Marina Kaljurand (S&D, Estonia) and Sven Mikser (S&D).
According to press announcements from Georgia's Foreign Ministry, the main discussions focused on the country's EU membership bid as well as important goals of current cooperation between Tbilisi and Brussels and the 2021-2027 Association Agenda. According to the Foreign Ministry, Darchiashvili and the Commissioner for Transport emphasised Georgia's position as a regional transportation and logistics hub connecting Asia and Europe on June 1st and agreed to continue working on the country's connection with the EU.
On June 1st, FM Darchiashvili and Environment Commissioner Sinkevičius discussed how Georgia might improve its integration with the EU in terms of environmental protection and climate change. After the meeting, Commissioner Sinkevičius remarked, "I am pleased to see Georgia committing to a deeper and broader implementation of our free trade agreement. It's impossible to pick a side. The European Road and principles, with the EU Green Deal at its core, are the way to proceed."
Following the meeting, Commissioner Lenarčič stated that the EU will continue to "assist Georgia in overcoming numerous crises, particularly the effects of the war in Ukraine, and strengthening its recovery and resilience."
According to the Foreign Ministry, FM Darchiashvili and Budget and Administration Commissioner Hahn discussed Georgia's sectoral integration with the EU on July 2nd. Georgian FM Ilia Darchiashvili provided Commissioner Hahn with "an ambitious and realistic update." "Our Georgian friends are appropriately focused on the mountain of work ahead of them, which will allow them to move closer to the EU," Commissioner Hahn stated.
Moreover, the Foreign Ministry stated on June 2nd, that during a meeting with MEP Marina Kaljurand, chair of the Delegation for Relations with the South Caucasus, and MEP Sven Mikser, European Parliament's Standing Rapporteur on Georgia, FM Darchiashvili confirmed Georgia's commitment to the reform agenda and readiness to do more to meet membership criteria.
