Georgia’s Foreign Minister: "We have full support of all EU institutions"

The Government of Georgia is committed to utilise the opportunities created by the country’s political association and economic integration with the European Union (EU) and let its citizens fully benefit from this process.

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze spoke these words as he delivered a speech at today’s joint meeting of the Parliamentary Committees on Foreign Affairs and Euro Integration.

#GEO Gov.is committed 2 full implementation of political association & economic integr. opportunities w/#EUhttps://t.co/a4BWMzyG8tpic.twitter.com/DpOXyLCxVh

— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) December 26, 2016

The country’s top diplomat named the Foreign Ministry’s priority directions, which included:

• Institutional approximation with the EU,
• Active involvement in EU programs,
• Sectoral dialogue and deepening cooperation with EU agencies.

Janelidze said his Ministry was actively working to ensure each Georgian citizen was properly informed about existing cultural, educational, agricultural and business related programs the EU offered.

"Our goal is to establish close cooperation with every single EU program and agency to bring our country as close to the EU standards as possible,” Janelidze said.

"We need this to make sure we are really prepared when we apply for EU membership,” he added.

Janelidze spoke about the progress Georgia had reached recently in regard to cooperation with the EU. He stressed that for the first time in the history of Georgia, the country was recently mentioned in the Global Strategy for the EU’s Foreign and Security Policy as "a stable and democratic state that was one of the key partners of the EU in cooperation for regional security”.

He confirmed the Government’s priority was to successfully implement the EU Association Agreement. The Minister underlined that for the first time in the country’s history, the civil society was given the opportunity to be involved in the development of the EU Association Agenda 2017-2020.

Janelidze said that shortly after winning the Parliamentary Elections in October Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili paid a visit to Brussels, which was a clear demonstration that the Government’s commitment to Euro-Atlantic integration was firm.

No obstacles for visa waiver

We have full support of all #EU institutions & @Europarl_EN political groups w/regard 2 #GEO#Visa liberalisation https://t.co/e021dTFRuU

— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) December 26, 2016

Speaking in front of Parliament Members, the Foreign Minister touched upon the topic of visa liberalisation too. He said that there was nothing that could obstruct the process of Schengen visa waiver for Georgia.

Janelidze stressed that despite the "difficult times” the EU was facing now, Georgia’s visa liberalisation was supported by all EU institutions.

"This is the result of the reforms the Georgian Government implemented, trust that exists towards Georgia and progress that’s not only noticed but recognised by all of our partners,” the Minister said.