Georgia submits first part of questionnaire for joining EU

TBILISI. May 4 (Interfax) - Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has handed over to Carl Hartzell, the head of the Delegation of the European Union in Tbilisi, the first part of the questionnaire of the European Commission on the basis of which Brussels would decide whether the country joins the EU.

Garibashvili said at a meeting with Hartzell that the Georgian government and all relevant state bodies are continuing their intensive work to file in the second, sectoral part of the questionnaire comprising 33 chapters and up to 2,300 questions, the press service for the Georgian government said on Monday.

Tbilisi wants to submit the second part of the questionnaire to the EU in advance, before May 13, Garibashvili said.

"After receiving a completed questionnaire, the European Commission will start preparing its own evaluation report to be presented at the Council of the European Union, and the relevant decision on Georgia's possible joining the EU is expected by late June," the press service said.

Meanwhile, the Georgian opposition has expressed extreme dissatisfaction that the government has not published the answers to the first part of the questionnaire even though it had promised to do so.

Georgia received the questionnaire in the first part of April, almost at the same time as Moldova and Ukraine, after the three countries had applied for membership in the EU in early March.