Dec 10, 2023. Posted by Balkan Periscope - Hellas
Tbilisi.
Georgian
non-governmental organisations staged a pro-European Union march in the capital
Tbilisi on Saturday, a week ahead of the bloc’s decision on granting the
country membership candidacy status.
EU leaders are set to discuss putting Tbilisi on a formal membership path and to launch accession talks with Ukraine and Moldova during a European Council meeting on December 14-15.
President
Salome Zurabishvili joined the rally at Tbilisi’s Europe Square where
demonstrators unfolded a 33 metre-long and 22 metre-wide EU flag, which
organisers claimed to be the “largest in the world”.
She said
she counted on EU leaders to grant her country candidate status, but also
expressed concern over the position of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
He has
threatened to block key decisions concerning Ukraine at the upcoming EU summit
— risking to impact Georgia’s chances of obtaining candidate status at the same
time.
“It would
be extremely serious if Orban — under the influence of Russia — could force the
European Union to go against decisions that lead towards a common European
future, towards the shared freedom of Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova in the European
space,” Zurabishvili said.
EU chief
Charles Michel met Orban on November 27 to ease tensions, while French
President Emmanuel Macron hosted him in Paris on Thursday in a bid to break the
deadlock over Ukraine.
‘Hello Europe, goodbye Russia’
Beating
drums, waving EU banners and Georgia’s five-cross flags, several hundred
representatives of Georgian NGOs, marched on Saturday along Tbilisi’s main
thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue.
“Georgians’
unity holds decisive importance on our path towards the EU,” the march
organisers said in a statement. “We must once again demonstrate our unity and
ensure our voice is heard.”
Demonstrators
expressed optimism over Georgia’s chances to advance on its EU accession path.
“I’m sure
we will get EU candidacy because we, Georgians, belong to Europe,” one of the
rally participants, student Marika Gerliani, 20, told AFP.
Another
demonstrator, 60-year-old mathematician Nika Tvauri, said: “It’s about Georgia
returning home. Hello Europe, goodbye Russia.”
Georgia
applied for EU membership alongside Ukraine and Moldova after Russia invaded
its pro-Western neighbour in February 2022.
EU leaders
have granted candidate status to Kyiv and Chisinau but urged Tbilisi to first
implement judicial and electoral reforms, improve press freedom and curtail the
power of oligarchs.
Afp
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