Brussels will continue to support Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia in carrying out pro-European reforms, according to a statement issued on Friday following the EU summit.
“The European Union will continue to work closely with Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia and support their reform efforts on their European path,” it said.
The statement says that the meeting also decided that Brussels will support Moldova in addressing the challenges it faces due to the events in Ukraine.
Last March, Georgia applied for EU membership, but has not yet been granted candidate status.
In February 2022, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy signed Ukraine’s application for EU membership. In June of the same year, the EU Council granted Ukraine candidate status.
In June 2022, Moldova was also granted candidate status.
People’s deputies have submitted to the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution on the use in Ukraine of the historical name of the country Georgia – Sakartvelo.
The card of the document under the number 9329 appeared on the website of the parliament.
The authors of the project are a group of people’s deputies, including the head of the parliamentary committee on the integration of Ukraine into the European Union Ivanna Klimpush-Tsintsadze, members of the faction “European Solidarity” Alexei Goncharenko, Irina Gerashchenko, Irina Friz, Vladimir Aryev, Sofia Fedina, Victoria Syumar and others.
“To introduce the use in Ukraine at the official level, official correspondence and communication, as well as in the media of the official and historical name Sakartvelo instead of Georgia. In accordance, the Georgian people (Georgians) shall be called – Kartvels,” – is stated in the text of the draft resolution.
The authors of the bill in an explanatory note notes that the relations between Ukraine and Georgia are deep and multifaceted, but one of the steps of additional rapprochement on the part of Ukraine could be the official use of the historical name of Georgia – Sakartvelo. It is also stressed that for almost fifteen years, official Tbilisi has been persuading its international partners to abandon the name “Georgia,” which is considered russified, and the name itself is Russian.
“Therefore, Georgians are asking to use the historical name of their country – Sakartvelo,” emphasize the authors of the project.
It is also noted that the name “Georgia” is used in the world by about 20 countries, including Ukraine. Most of these countries are post-Soviet countries or those that experienced significant Soviet influence.
“Ukraine, which is a separate subject of international law and historically builds friendly relations with Georgia and which, especially at the present time of Russian aggression, gets rid of everything russified and manifestations of colonial policy, should start using the historical name of the country Georgia – Sakartvelo, and the name of the Georgian people (Georgians) – kartveli”, – think MPs.
The Georgian government has allowed Ukrainian citizens to enter and stay on its territory for two years without having to apply for a visa.
The corresponding decree was published on the official website of the Legislative Herald of Georgia.
Document No. 81, adopted on February 24, 2023, amends the Georgian government’s resolution of June 5, 2015 “On approving the list of countries whose citizens can enter Georgia without a visa.”
According to the amendments, from now on citizens of Ukraine have the right to enter Georgia without a visa and stay in Georgia for a full two years.
The document was signed by the Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili. It enters into force from the day of its promulgation.
The Georgian embassy delivered high-capacity generators to Kharkiv on January 5, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said.
“We thank Georgia for providing Kharkiv with high-capacity generators, which were delivered by the Georgian embassy on January 5. We appreciate every assistance in restoring critical infrastructure facilities damaged after air, missile and artillery strikes,” the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Twitter.
The Arber chain of clothing stores has opened its first store abroad, in Georgia, the network’s press service said.
“Now we demonstrate style and quality of Ukrainian production in Georgia. Arber has won the hearts of more than a million domestic customers and now we are entering a new level,” – stated on the official Facebook page of the company.
It is specified that the area of the store in East Point Shopping Center in Tbilisi is 176 square meters.
Arber Fashion Group – vertically integrated Ukrainian holding for clothing and accessories. It is represented by a retail network of more than 90 stores in all regions of Ukraine under the Arber, F’91 and “Kokon” brands.
The AFG production complex is represented by seven in-house factories for the production of men’s and women’s clothing, capable of producing more than 2 million units annually.
The European Commission will soon submit a report on the readiness of Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia to join the European Union, European Council President Charles Michel said.
“We discussed in detail the issues of EU enlargement a few months ago, at the conference in Versailles. After that, three countries applied for accession. We made a decision very quickly, instructing the European Commission to carry out work and prepare reports on these countries. We made a decision in a few days, although it usually took 8-9 months. By the end of June, the European Commission will publish this report, and we will decide how to proceed further,” Michel said at a joint press conference with Moldovan President Maia Sandu during a visit to Chisinau.
He stressed that the EU will continue to act promptly.
“We will act immediately to strengthen ties with Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia, to support them in the current difficult situation. This will be a political process in the context of how we see the development of the European Union. In the next two months, we will give a clear signal of what we want to enlarge the European Union,” the President of the European Council said.
For her part, Moldovan President Maia Sandu stressed that “European integration is the choice of the country, the choice of the people.” “On April 22, we submitted to Brussels the first part of our responses to the European Commission’s questionnaire. In the near future we will also pass on the second part. We understand that integration into the EU is a long process, we are not looking for short and easy ways. We intend to continue reforms. Most importantly – peace is needed for this, everything must be done to restore peace,” Sandu stressed.
