EU thanks Georgia for its “commitment”

Georgia may gain entry to the Guinness Book of Records with the speediest conclusion of negotiations on the most comprehensive agreement in history.

This was a joke said by President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso at his meeting with Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Brussels, Belgium. However, his comical statement has been found to contain some truth.

"I am happy to break this record and I will be even happier if we break the record of the quickest and most efficient implementation [too],” PM Garibahsvili said in reference to signing the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU). The AA was initialed in November 2013 and is expected to be signed by August this year.

Yesterday, the Georgian Embassy to Belgium hosted a working dinner attended by PM Garibahsvili, Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, Georgia’s State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili and a number of UN senior officials.

"I came here to deliver the main message of my Government,” Garibashvili said in his address.

"We are fully committed to the European Choice made by our people and our Government and we are determined to do all that it takes to sign the Association Agreement as soon as possible.”

The Georgian PM said he believed early application of the AA would be the "best defence against external and internal pressures” for his country.

EU Foreign Affairs Undersecretary Luis Felipe Fernandez de La Pena also gave a speech at the working dinner. He positively assessed Georgia’s ongoing and implemented reforms, thanked Garibashvili for pursuing the European path and said: "[Georgia’s] commitment will bring changes. On this we can be sure.”