Georgia’s Kvirikashvili Starts Visit to Brussels

The Prime Minister of Georgia, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, has left for Brussels in order to participate in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) 5th Summit on November 24.

On Thursday, the PM met the European Council President Donald Tusk. The progress achieved by Georgia on the path of European integration, and the positive dynamics in bilateral relations between Georgia and the EU was underlined at the meeting.

The Georgian PM’s Press Office reports that Donald Tusk stated that Georgia is a reliable and exemplary partner of the EU.

The parties also discussed the EaP format and noted its importance, and that Georgia has an ambitious action plan for 2017-2020, and is ready to do more in order to obtain even closer standards to the EU than the Association Agreement requires.

Attention was paid to the situation in the occupied territories of Georgia. Donald Tusk positively assessed the policy of the Government of Georgia in the direction of peaceful settlement of the conflict, and underlined the importance of the EU engagement in this process.

The President of the European Council congratulated the Prime Minister of Georgia on the successful local self-government elections.

After the meeting, Tusk and PM Kvirikashvili had a meeting with the Ukrainian President, Petro Poroshenko.

All sides discussed Georgia and Ukraine’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, and the friendly relationship between the two countries.

“At present our relationships are actively developing in political, economic and cultural fields. I am deeply convinced that the development of our relations has enormous prospects," the Ukrainian President said.

Kvirikashvili said that Georgia and Ukraine have common ambitions, European and Euro-Atlantic goals that determine their domestic and foreign agenda.

“We are here to discuss our future relationships which have a much wider and profound potential for development,” he added.

The parties also discussed the developments in occupied territories, and confirmed mutual support to territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine.

Launched in 2009, the EaP aims to promote political association and economic integration between the EU and six Eastern European partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.

By Thea Morrison