Why is a Lithuanian angel wearing a Georgian flag scarf?

The main angel in Lithuania’s capital Vilnius is wearing Georgian scarf to mark the full force of Georgia’s Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU).

Georgia and the EU signed an AA on June 27, 2014 and tomorrow, July 1, the AA and its inclusive Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal will fully and officially come into play.

To mark the occasion Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius and Georgia’s Ambassador to Lithuania Khatuna Salukvadze decorated the main angel of Vilnius with a Georgian scarf.

The Embassy of Georgia to the Republic of Lithuania and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania organised a public campaign to celebrate the full force of the Georgia-EU deal.

The public campaign is taking place over two days from June 30-July 1.

Vilnius Mayor Remigijus Simasius and Georgia’s Ambassador to Lithuania Khatuna Salukvadze are decorating the main angel of Vilnius with a Georgian scarf. Photo by Embassy of Georgia in Lithuania.

Last month the EU Foreign Affairs Council announced its decision to end the procedures needed for ratification of the EU-Georgia AA deal. The Council said Georgia’s AA would fully come into force on the first day of July 2016.

Georgia started negotiating with the EU about its AA deal in July 2010, while negotiations regarding the economic part of the agreement – the DCFTA – started in December 2011.

During the negotiation process 14 plenary sessions were held to discuss the political section of the AA, six rounds of talks were about the DCFTA and around 100 video conferences were held.

The Embassy of Georgia to the Republic of Lithuania and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania will also organise a public campaign to celebrate the full force of the Georgia-EU deal. Photo by Embassy of Georgia in Lithuania.

Negotiations ended in July 2013 and the AA deal was initiated in November 2013 at the Vilnius Summit and signed on June 27, 2014 in Brussels.

All essential elements of the AA partially came into force on September 1, 2014. Before the document could be fully implemented, the national parliaments of all 28 EU member countries needed to ratify the agreement.

In December 2015 Belgium was the last – the 28th – EU member state to ratify Georgia’s AA deal.