The Parliamentary Delegation of Georgia, headed by the Chair of the EU Integration Committee, Maka Botchorishvili participates in the Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

M. Botchorishvili attended the debates on the EU enlargement; she stressed the significance of the enlargement policy in regard to EU security and underlined the role of Georgia in this context.

“Last year, the EU granted the EU candidate status to the most vulnerable country in Europe but with the strongest European aspirations - Georgia. We are well aware of what the Russian aggression means. We hold the experience of how complicated the transformation of the country is without the security guarantees when Russia keeps occupying the regions of Georgia. Despite all the aforementioned pressing points, we managed to achieve tangible progress and transformed Georgia into an attractive country by the immense advantages that may contribute to the formation of a better future of Europe”, - she stated.

M. Botchorishvili touched upon the importance of the uninterrupted realization of the enlargement process and accentuated the necessity of the commencement of the negotiations with Georgia.

“Belated initiation of the enlargement negotiations may pose a threat to the progress of the country and be used as an instrument for destabilization, as we were the witnesses of such fact 2 years ago when Georgia was declined from granting the EU candidate status on the basis of unsubstantiated perceptions, unlike Ukraine and Moldova. The empowerment of Georgia on the EU membership path stands as an investment to the security, stability and welfare of Europe”, - she added.

The participants of the debates on the enlargement policy also were the EU Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi; and the State Secretary for EU Affairs of the Hungarian Ministry of Justice, János Bóka.

The Inter-Parliamentary Conference on the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP/CSDP) is hosted by the EU presiding country - Hungary - in Budapest and is attended by the high-rank representatives of the National Parliaments of the EU member and candidate states and the EU institutions.

The Parliamentary Delegation of Georgia is composed of the First Deputy Chair of the EU Integration Committee, Levan Karumidze and the member of the Defense and Security Committee, Khatia Tsilosani.