PM: Georgia committed to peaceful restoration of territorial integrity

The Georgian government intends to restore the country's territorial integrity through peaceful means, Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated during a parliamentary session on government approval procedures.

“Our other main task is to restore territorial integrity peacefully. Of course, the achievement of this goal depends on global trends and processes in the region. We very much hope that this task will be fully resolved,” Kobakhidze said, Caliber.Az reports via Georgian media.

Kobakhidze also reiterated Georgia’s ambition to join the European Union by 2030.

“All successes on the path of European integration were achieved under our leadership (...) our task is to become a member of the European Union. We have an ambitious goal to become a member of the EU by 2030,” he stated.

Earlier, speaking to journalists Kobakhidze expressed optimism that negotiations for EU membership would likely begin in 2025. “I think that this year this [opening of negotiations] will certainly not happen, but next year with a high degree of probability negotiations will be opened, especially since before that the war in Ukraine will probably end as well,” he explained.

According to the Prime Minister, Tbilisi would be more prepared for EU membership than other candidate countries by the time negotiations commence.

Georgia’s parliament has approved the new cabinet led by Irakli Kobakhidze and endorsed his program for the upcoming four years. Eighty-four MPs voted in favour, with no opposition expressed. Only members of the ruling Georgian Dream-Democratic Georgia party participated in the session, as opposition parties continue to boycott parliament, disputing the results of recent elections.

By Tamilla Hasanova