Georgian Parliament will ratify EU deal on July 18

Parliament of Georgia announced it will ratify the country’s Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU) on July 18.

Parliament Speaker Davit Usupashvili announced this date at a joint press conference with his Polish counterpart in Tbilisi today.

Marshal of the Polish Senate Bogdan Borusewicz arrived in Tbilisi for an official visit earlier today.

As well as discussing bilateral partnership issues, the heads of the two countries’ Parliaments spoke about the ratification of the EU partnership deal, which Georgia signed on June 27.

Usupashvili said he would soon ask President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili to approve a special Parliament meeting where the document will be ratified. On a side note, Parliament will not operate on several upcoming days due to the 2014 municipal elections runoff.

Usupashvili also said the document text would be passed to Parliament from the Government today or tomorrow.

This week Georgia’s Parliament will hold committee hearings after which the AA will be ratified at a special meeting.

The Parliament Speaker did not rule out the possibility high ranking international guests would visit Tbilisi in the scope of ratification day.

The Polish Senate Marshal said his Parliament would also ratify Georgia’s EU association deal as soon as its Foreign Ministry prepared the document. Borusewicz said Poland would be one of the first countries that would ratify the document.

Georgia’s AA deal has already been ratified by Romania and Lithuania. The document needs to be approved by all 28 EU member countries before it can come into force.