“I have many Georgian friends, and I have visited Georgia many times. I believe we are spiritually and culturally close—not to mention our shared appreciation for vineyards and wine, which is an important part of our cultures,” said Alexandru Munteanu at the EU Enlargement Forum.

According to Munteanu, Georgians are Europeans and deserve full inclusion in the EU family.

“When my nomination became public, I received many messages from my Georgian friends telling me, ‘now you are fighting for us.’ I fully agree with Commissioner Kubilius’s remarks. Our success would be the best response to interference in Georgia and to their disengagement from EU processes, which is, in my view, a sad development, because Georgians are Europeans and fully deserve to be part of this family. I hope this is only a temporary situation. We must help them, and we Moldovans will fight for them. I promise that—and I hope they will return,” he said.