Georgian authorities welcome EU's decision to give European perspective to Georgia

TBILISI. June 24 (Interfax) - The Georgian authorities have welcomed the European Council's decision to acknowledge the European perspective of Georgia and have declared their readiness to reach every priority target so that Georgia gets the status of an EU candidate.

"This is a historic day: the European perspective of Georgia has been acknowledged. We are ready to work on the EU candidate status," Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said on social media.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili also called the European Council's decision on Georgia historic.

"We are ready to implement every priority in order to receive the candidate status as soon as possible," Garibashvili said on social media.

The European Council decided on Thursday that Ukraine and Moldova would receive the EU candidate status, while Georgia would be given the European perspective and would get the candidate status upon complying with the outlined priorities.

The Georgian opposition is planning a largescale demonstration in Tbilisi on Friday night to protest against the incumbent authorities, which, in the opposition's opinion, are responsible for the European Council's refusal to grant the EU candidate status to Georgia.