H.E. Mr. George Zurabashvili:

I thank the Vice Chairman of the committee, Deputy Howlin, who I see in person in the committee room. I also greet the Chairman, Deputy McHugh, who I see on the screen, and the distinguished members of the Oireachtas committee. I warmly greet my colleague, Ms Larisa Miculet, who is sitting next to me. I also greet Ms Anna Sochaska, the Polish ambassador, and the Romanian ambassador, Dr. Laurentiu-Mihai Stefan. I thank Ms Marysa Gerasko for her lengthy testimony, which lasted for more than two hours and was very interesting.

First, I thank members for this opportunity to brief them on the challenges that Georgia has, the ongoing Russian occupation, and to share the progress Georgia has achieved towards further EU integration. I appreciate the growing interest that committee members might have particularly after Georgia has officially submitted an application to join the EU family. The current severe political circumstances oblige me to emphasise the vocal and strong support of the Georgian Government and the people of Georgia towards the brave Ukrainian people and their respectful leadership. We stand together with our Ukrainian friends as they fight for freedom, for independence and for a European future. We support Ukraine as much as we can in all international arenas of our competence, such as the UN, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, and the ICC. We contribute thousands of tonnes of humanitarian aid worth millions of euro, provide shelter and assistance for those Ukrainians who were stranded in Georgia or fled the war zones. It is obvious that the world must resist, and is doing so, the brutal Russian regime aiming to invade and enslave neighbours through massacre, mass destruction and devastation.

We all pray and hope that the wisdom of peace and constructive dialogue will succeed and the end of this nightmare finally arrives. The European Union and the international community should make Russia accountable for breaching international law, as in the modern world the rule of law must govern and justice must prevail. However every end has a beginning. The Russian aggression against its neighbours, European values and the world order, started from Georgia first in the early 1990s and then leading to the Russia-Georgian war of August 2008, when Russia conducted a large-scale military aggression against sovereign Georgia on land, at sea, by air and by cyberspace. Russia has occupied both Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia, has created illegal, proxy regimes in both of the regions thus keeping 20% of the overall territory under the Russian occupation. As the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights states, Russia has established effective control over the occupied regions. Throughout the 30 years of Russia-Georgia conflict from 1991, the Georgian people have undergone exactly the same suffering and pain of mass murder, torture, rape and pillage, of atrocities and brutality by the Russian army as nowadays, we all and the whole world are shocked to watch on breaking news on TV with horror and fear. As a result of three massive waves of ethnic cleansing for which the Russian Federation is responsible, half a million of internally displaced persons, IDPs, or refugees who have been expelled from their lands in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia, are still dreaming of returning to their true homes.

Sadly, the times when the Berlin Wall divided Europe are not over. The barbed wire fences along the occupation line in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali regions of Georgia are dividing families, restricting the locals from seeing each other, keeping the farmers apart from their farming lands and relatives parted from their loved ones. Gradually Russian occupational forces move the occupation line deeper into the country capturing more land and bringing more tragedy for the local population. Those who have not escaped atrocities and have remained in Tskhinvali and Abkhazia regions are constantly subjected to massive human rights violations and are forced to take Russian passports. Nowadays, as Russia’s aggression against Ukraine continues, Georgia remains a target for more conventional or hybrid threats from Russia, which has illegally established two military bases in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. They provoke the local population living beyond and along the occupation line through frightening, kidnapping, torture and murder.

These threats against Georgia are real, alarming and have consequences. It is crucially important to call for our international partners to keep focus on Georgia along with Ukraine, and to make Russia withdraw the occupation troops from the Georgian indigenous territories. Georgia appreciates the support and contribution of the EU and its member states to the process of peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict through the EU mediation of the ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008, as well as launching the EU monitoring mission, where seven Irish observers serve on the ground. Equally we are grateful to Ireland for supporting the EU’s non-recognition and engagement policy. Despite these efforts, unfortunately, the response of the European Union and the world against the Russian aggression of 2008 war against Georgia, an attempt to change the established borders in Europe, was not strong and decisive enough to defend the principles of the international rules-based order, to make Russia respect the sovereignty and territorial integrity of a European state and to hold Russia accountable for aggression against its small neighbour.

Russia’s aggression against a sovereign neighbour with the main intention of keeping Georgia under its direct political influence and domination aims to undermine the economy, compromise democracy, shake statehood with the intended consequence of ending our sovereignty and derailing Georgia from European Union and NATO integration, as Russia considers sovereign, free, European and democratic Georgia to be a threat to its own regime. We have withstood the occupation, provocations, hostility, hybrid measures, disinformation and other coercive tools from Russia, which continues nowadays. We have made all the efforts within our power to progress our European and Euro-Atlantic integration and, at the same time to pursue the policy of peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict.

A few years ago Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as associated EU countries have set up the Association Trio with the purpose of working together for our integration into the European Union. We took this step together, as our three countries have the same European aspirations. We have the same goal of becoming members of the European Union. We possess the same tools, signed Association Agreements including the DCFTA with the EU, to achieve these goals. Georgia was considering submitting the application by 2024 but the rapidly changing new reality has opened a momentum for all of us to submit our official application for EU membership now. EU membership application is a concrete response to the long-standing choice of the Georgian people. It unites the whole population, brings all political parties under one goal to support further Georgia’s EU integration. The last poll shows that 86% would vote for EU membership. On top of this, a prospect of a free, democratic European state on the path towards EU membership will prove a powerful attraction for our people living in the occupied territories and eventually will serve as the most effective tool to achieve reconciliation in a unified Georgia. We welcome the decision by the Council of the European Union, followed by the statement of the Heads of State or Government of the EU member states, in Versailles, to invite the European Commission to submit its opinion on the applications of Ukraine, as well as Georgia and Moldova. We fully understand the main purpose of the meeting to show a united stance and solidarity with the EU towards Ukraine and its people in these most horrible times for them.

At the same time, it is critical that decisions taken on Georgia and Moldova are synchronised with those regarding Ukraine, and the trio is not split apart by reacting differently on the application accession process. Otherwise, leaving us or any of the trio countries behind in this process will be understood as a negative answer of the EU and will bear a devastating effect on our society, while giving a green light to Russia for unpredictable destructive actions and will definitely close this once-in-a-lifetime momentum for membership. In the meantime, we continue implementation of the Association Agreement and the DCFTA, approximately 40% of which we have already fulfilled. Further consolidation of democracy, strengthening the rule of law and good governance, as well as human rights remain on top of our European agenda. After signing the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in 2014, we have advanced political and economic integration with the EU.

Two working groups were created under the state EU integration committee to ensure regular follow-up on the implementation of the association agreement and the deep and comprehensive free trade area commitments. Since 2017, visa liberalisation has allowed Georgian citizens to benefit from visa-free travel to EU Schengen states, with more than 600,000 Georgian citizens having enjoyed visa-free travel since then.

With the aim of approximating national legislation with the EU and aligning its institutional framework closer to EU standards, Georgia has successfully transposed a big part of the EU legislative acts and has established various new regulatory institutions. Almost 56% of legislative acts have been transposed into Georgian legislation. As an example, in the sanitary and phytosanitary area alone, the Georgian legislation has been amended with 149 EU legal acts.

The export of national products from Georgia to EU markets has increased by 15% and the EU has become Georgia's main trade partner, with more than 850 Georgian companies exporting their products to the EU market. Co-operation with the EU in the energy sector led to Georgia’s accession to the European Energy Community Treaty in 2016. Georgia is actively co-operating with European agencies such as Frontex, Europol and Eurojust. Georgia is part of EU framework programmes such as Horizon Europe, Creative Europe and Erasmus+, in the context of which Georgia is ranked sixth by activity among 141 partner countries. Joining the Single Market, the single euro payments area and a single telecommunication space as well as incorporating into educational domains and transportation networks are part of our European agenda.

Georgia possesses huge potential for green hydropower generation. We are closely studying the project to construct a novel Black Sea underwater electricity transmission line to supply the EU with badly needed green energy. In the world of digitalisation, the Internet cables stretching along the seabed are among the top priorities as currently the Black Sea has turned up as a sea of connectivity.

We call on the EU to further shape co-operation with Georgia as with a candidate country. Being defined as a candidate country will be a sign of big support for Georgia’s democracy and will certainly further consolidate Georgia’s democratic and economic reforms. The time has come for the European Union to demonstrate its own values of liberty, equality and fraternity to support our countries, which have a decades-long history of struggle for European values, freedom and democracy.

On the bilateral level, the increasing relations require reciprocation by the Irish Government. The opening of the Irish embassy in Tbilisi will definitely contribute to the Irish global footprint policy, benefit Ireland as a non-permanent member of the UN Security Council and open new horizons for Irish businesses. Combined, this will contribute to our bilateral friendly relations. Georgia is ranked sixth by the World Bank in terms of the ease of doing business. We hope Ireland will join the decision of EU Schengen states to open borders and will provide visa-free access to Georgians. That will contribute to our people-to-people relations, as people are the main asset any nation has. We are immensely grateful to the Irish Government, the Oireachtas and the Irish people for their unvarying support for our sovereignty and territorial integrity and for advocating our further integration into the European Union.

As I come to the end of my remarks, I invite the Chairman, the Vice Chairman and members of the committee to visit Georgia and get a better introduction to Georgia’s profound aspirations towards EU membership as well as the huge progress achieved. They will exchange views with government officials on the future of Europe, particularly in the context of Georgia, to get a comprehensive understanding of how we can contribute to the safety and security of Europe. They will be able to meet the Irish observers from the European Union monitoring mission and visit the occupation line where they will witness the devastating impact of the Russian occupation. Further, they will meet ordinary Georgians to look in their eyes, introspect their souls, witness how strongly we Georgians are Europeans and how crucial it is for us and the future of Europe that our European Union membership is accepted.

I thank the Vice Chairman. I am open for questions members may have.