At the EU press conference dedicated to the 2023 Enlargement package and the new Growth Plan for the Western Balkans on November 8, the European Commission recommended granting EU candidate status to Georgia.

Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said she welcomed the positive recommendation of the European Commission to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status. Zourabichvili said she would continue to play her role as a pro-European leader more than ever to push the still-needed reforms in the country.

Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili noted that the historic recommendation of the European Commission to grant Georgia the European Union membership candidate status had recognized the country’s future as a full-fledged member of the European community of nations. Papuashvili said this decision was also a strong response to the Russian occupation of Georgian regions. "It sends a message that Georgia is not alone and that our European partners and friends stand with us. This is the first step of the strategic decision to establish Europe’s foothold in the Caucasus," he said.

In his remarks over the decision, Garibashvili highlighted that his government had been working around the clock over the past year to implement the conditions for the country to be granted the status. Garibashvili added, "If the Government does something, we do it for our citizens, for you, our children, our future, and our country."

He stressed that the "radical wing of the country’s opposition" [hinting at the United National Movement and affiliated opposition groups] had done nothing for Georgia's EU integration. Garibashvili said his government was ready to cooperate and reach a compromise with the "destructive [domestic] opposition" only if it is mutually agreed to fulfill the recommendations outlined by the European Union to grant its candidate membership status to the country. "The Government will work together with the opposition, despite their acts of sabotage to the country’s European integration," Garibashvili noted.

In his remarks, he slammed the country’s President Salome Zourabichvili and the opposition members by saying neither the President nor the opposition has done anything on the path of our country's European integration. The Georgian official stressed that, unfortunately, the representatives of the radical opposition did not join the working groups formed in the Parliament to fulfill the EU priorities and instead have been engaged in constant sabotage and destructive actions for the last year. "The radical opposition and the President tried to be somehow involved in fulfilling the recommendations in the last weeks, only after there were positive messages from the bloc on Georgia's EU candidacy, it was a feeble attempt," he added.