Georgia’s PM: “Association Agreement is not our final stage”

Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili thanked the European Parliament for its yesterday’s positive resolution over Georgia’s fulfilling its Association Agreement (AA) deal with the European Union (EU) and responded to the Parliament members’ concern over several issues later today. 

The Georgian top official stressed that the resolution "set out a clear European perspective for Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.” 

Effective implementation of the AA is the first priority of our Government. However, it is important to note that the deal is not the final stage in our progressive relations and there is more we can strive for,” Kvirikashvili stressed. 

Following the lead, the PM thanked the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) for their support to the visa liberalisation for Georgia and highlighted that Georgians were "looking  forward” to the final decision on the Visa Liberalisation in the nearest future, which would  bring "tangible benefits”  for ordinary Georgians and business community. 

On the MEPs’ recommendation not to encourage any polarisation in Georgia, Kvirikashvili claimed that he has already made appeals to all political players in Georgia to avoid any tension. 

On this note, he stressed that the Georgian Dream (GD) ruling party "stood ready” to offer every possible opportunity to all parties to avoid political tensions and hoped for the counter steps from the opposition. 

The top priority for our government is to ensure that 2016 parliamentary elections are held in a free, open and transparent environment proving a maturity of our democracy,” Kvirikahsvili said. 

Speaking about the MEPs’ remarks on judiciary and court-related issues the PM emphasised that  a range of reforms had been carried out in the directions, among them was a  four-phased judiciary reform agenda aimed at depoliticising the High Council of Justice and increasing its transparency. 

When it came to the concerns over the Prosecutor’s Office the PM stated that in autumn 2015 , a gender-balanced, 15-member Prosecutorial Council was established to consist of the prosecutors elected by their peers, the representatives of legislature, judiciary and the civil society organizations.

In developing the draft law, the Ministry of Justice worked closely with the Venice Commission and took on board 35 out of the 37 recommendations made by this expert body before submitting it to the Parliament. "

Similarly, changes have been made in the application of the pre-trial detention The maximum pre-trial period has been limited to nine months with no possibility of extension even if new charges are being pressed,” Kvirikashvili said. 

Touching on MEPs’ statements over certain inappropriate actions against the Constitutional Court judges, the head of the Government said that some verdicts of the Court pushed spontaneous protests taking place in front of the Court and residences of some of the judges.

"We, the government, have ensured appropriate enforcement of the law, the safety of judges, as well as the protection of the right to peaceful protest,” Kvirikashvili said. 

Mentioning the importance of free media, the PM stated that the GD Government provided all opportunities for media freedom. 

On this note, the PM responded to questions raised in terms of Rustavi 2 private broadcaster’s ownership issue. 

We did our best to ensure the media freedom without damaging property ownership rights, which are also fundamental to democracy, the judicial process stays independent, transparent and protected from any political interference.,” Kvirikashvili said. 

In the final part the PM highlighted the importance of monitoring of Georgian democratic progress by foreign institutions and organisations.