Following the 9th Ordinary Session of the Euronest PA, the Co-Chairs of the Assembly Maka Botchorishvili and Andrius Kubilius held a joint online press conference.

"The Eastern Partnership brought the Association Agreement for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine and provided an opportunity to further deepen relations with the European Union”, - M. Botchorishvili noted expanding on the challenges in the region in terms of security and hybrid threats.

"These issues require more attention and effort. Right now, it is the time to think about the future and determine where to go. Georgia has already declared its plans for 2024. Moldova and Ukraine are also striving for EU integration. The Eastern Partnership shall develop a strategic vision for the future and enable ambitious partners to do more”, - Georgian MP specified.

As noted by the Co-Chair of the Assembly, in addition to the existing challenges, the delegates during the session spoke about the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit and the wishes on how to develop this format.

"The Eastern Partnership format is important, not only for the Eastern Partnership countries, but also for the European Union. I always emphasize that the Eastern Partnership policy is one of the main geopolitical directions of the European Union. Ultimately, this format should bring stability and prosperity to the entire European continent. Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova spare no efforts to achieve deeper integration with the European Union. I hope the rest of the countries will join as well. I am glad that positive signals are coming from Belarus as they want to be included in this format. The voting process for resolutions continues. We wanted to cover all the challenges of the Eastern Partnership in our texts”, - A. Kubilius remarked.

As he noted, Georgia plans to apply for EU membership in 2024. So, the inspiration for the future part of the Eastern Partnership in the resolution was partly derived from this decision of Georgia.

"We want the EU to be more open to the ambitions of the Eastern Partnership countries. A study by one of the research centers shows that there is no difference in terms of development, integration and achievements between the countries of the Eastern Partnership and the Western Balkans region. Georgia even leads in many cases. That is why the question arises as to why the EU divides this group of countries in two and offers only one prospect of accession. Therefore, we are launching a dialogue in Brussels, with various institutions and in the European Parliament on how to make the Eastern Partnership format more ambitious and specific in terms of integration prospects”, - A. Kubilius added.

The Co-Chair of the Assembly congratulated Georgia on reaching a political agreement.

"I would like to end with a sincere congratulations to the Georgian political community. It seems that the political crisis is coming to an end. I want to hail the decision of the ruling party as well as the opposition. Of course, I would like to commend Charles Michel for his strong governing style, which is not so common in Europe. In my experience, the sessions of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly are always related to Georgia. I call on my Georgian colleagues not to continue this trend, I hope the next session will not be dedicated to the current crisis in Georgia”, - the MEP elucidated.

Georgian media representatives addressed questions to the Co-Chairs of the Assembly from the Parliament of Georgia through an online platform.

The questions were mainly related to the priorities of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly in the coming years, the scheduled Eastern Partnership summit and the current political situation in Georgia.