TBILISI. June 17 (Interfax) - Joining the European Union by 2030 is Georgia's goal, and it is being obstructed by some forces who have influence on global politics, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze told journalists on Monday.
"We have said more than once that our goal is to join the European Union by 2030, but blackmail has been continuing up to now, which was earlier related to granting EU candidate status to Georgia, and now blackmail by some particular forces concerns the start of negotiations on Georgia's accession to the European Union. We call these forces a global war party, which exert considerable influence on the European Union. We have information on members of this party but won't name them for the time being," Kobakhidze said.
Georgia's chances of beginning negotiations with the EU have increased after the adoption of the foreign agent law, he said.
"Before the legislation on transparency of foreign influence was initiated, Georgia had zero chances of beginning talks on joining the European Union, while now such chances are about 20%-30%. We believe you'll definitely achieve the desired result where you assume a principled stance," Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze said he has had conversations with a number of leaders and foreign ministers of EU countries, whose attitudes he described as "absolutely healthy."
"Therefore, the opposition's happiness about Georgia's punishment is premature. Nobody is going to punish Georgia, its population, or its elected government, and therefore, everything is going to be fine for the country and bad for the opposition," Kobakhidze said.
As reported, Brussels plans to start EU accession negotiations with Ukraine and Moldova on June 25.