The FINANCIAL — The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili and the President of the European Council, Mr. Donald Tusk have made joint media statements in Brussels.
Tusk has shown support for Georgia, as a reliable partner for the EU and underlined Georgia’s successful reforms. The two have emphasized the quick and effective efforts of the Georgian authorities to eliminate violation of visa liberalization conditions in cooperation with EU member states, according to the Administration of the President of Georgia.
“It is always a great pleasure and opportunity to have this chance to come here and talk here in Brussels and discuss our future, our common plans and values through which we have been trying for years to build better Europe, better world and underscore the strong commitments that we had from our European partners and especially from you, Mr. Tusk; your continuous efforts to strengthen the European stability, security and strengthen Georgia’s path in this dimension. We have definitely achieved the results; we have achieved the results with the Association Agreement; we have achieved the results with the free trade; we have achieved the results with the visa free format. Actually, within this path, Europe has become much closer and much more engaged in Georgia and Georgia is much closer to Europe. Europe has become the number one trading partner for Georgia and we have quite an intensive number of formats of cooperation and partnership that I believe will be developing and broadening in the future.
I am happy that we had an opportunity to discuss my Government’s very active engagement in every issue that has been presented by our partners and every specific scrutiny that has been mentioned by our partners on any issue, be it visa free movement, be it other issues that we have to develop and further intensify in the European format. Specifically, on the visa free format, the Georgian Government has taken an extremely active and responsible position on every issue that has been brought by our partners and we are ready to further do our best in working together and having a much more effective, functional and long-standing cooperation.
I have shared with you the grief and the pain of our people caused by the execution of the Georgian citizen who was our brother in arms when it came to the global stability and security and was standing with us for stable and more secure humankind. He has been executed and his body is captive, as well as other people are captive in the occupied territories. I came here to share this grief with my friends and to thank them for being supportive and helpful in obtaining the truth and somehow comforting the poor family that has lost this person.
We have an extensive agenda of furthering our cooperation. We have a whole format of issues that we have been able to discuss today, be it on economics, be it on education, research, political partnership, and, of course, on the important date that my nation is celebrating together with other free nations, the anniversary of the First Republic that Georgia established in 1918. We, as a nation, are very much united around this important date and of course, we will be sharing this important feeling with our friends and I hope very much with you, Donald, so that we are able to continue building more stable, secure and prosperous European process including in Georgia, as the Eastern European nation,” President Margvelashvili said.
Donald Tusk has once again confirmed his strong support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. According to Tusk, the European Union will continue to support Georgia’s reforms.
“EU-Georgia relations are strong and we enjoy an excellent partnership. The accomplishment of the visa free regime and the increase in bilateral trade are some of the most visible examples of our good and expanding cooperation over the past year.
The implementation of the Association Agreement and deep and comprehensive free trade area is bringing tangible results to the citizens of Georgia, contributing to political and economic stability; the EU will continue to support Georgia’s reforms.
With regard to the visa free regime, I welcome the commitment of the Georgian authorities to continue working with EU member states to make sure that it functions properly.
Georgia is the frontrunner in the Eastern Partnership and the EU very much appreciated Georgia’s constructive and active support to make the last year’s Summit a success.
In this context, we also discussed the future of EU-Georgia relations, including the Georgian Government’s pragmatic proposals for advancing integration and cooperation with the European Union. We will work to make these ideas more concrete in the coming month.
During our meeting, I reassured the President that the EU remains fully committed to the conflict resolution effort and supports the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders. We are concerned about attempt the creeping annexation of the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The recent tragic death of a Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili and the detention of two others in South Ossetia was a sad reminder of the cost paid by conflict,” Mr. Tusk said.
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