Georgian PM, EU Council President meet prior to Eastern Partnership Summit

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili will participate in the upcoming Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit in Brussels, Belgium tomorrow on November 24.

Having left to Brussels today, PM Kvirikashvili met with the President of the European Council Donald Tusk, who praised Georgia as a reliable and exemplary partner of the European Union (EU).

During the meeting, the parties emphasised Georgia’s progress toward European integration and the positive dynamics in Georgia-EU bilateral relations. Tusk welcomed the role of the associated countries, especially Georgia as their torchbearer, in the development of the EaP.

Importance of the EaP format and Georgia’s ambitious bilateral agenda with the EU and the 2017-2020 Action Plan, as well as Georgia’s commitment to accomplishing beyond the Association Agreement requirements in order to draw closer to EU were also emphasised.

Georgian PM, EU Council President meet in Brussels, Belgium today. Video by 1TV

Special attention was paid to the situation in the Russian occupied regions of Georgia - Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). Commending Georgian Government’s policy on peaceful conflict-resolution, Tusk emphasised importance of even greater EU engagement in this process.

EaP Summit will be held in Belgian capital of Brussels tomorrow, where Georgian Prime Minister Kvirikashvili will talk about the progress Georgia has achieved and its steps forward.

At the summit, heads of state or government from the EU member states and the six Eastern partner countries will discuss the achievements and discuss how to further strengthen cooperation in the four priority areas agreed at the previous summit in Riga:

• Stronger economy: economic development and better market opportunities;
• Stronger governance: strengthening of institutions and good governance;
• Stronger connectivity: enhancing interconnections, notably in the areas of transport and energy;
• Stronger society: increasing mobility and contacts between people.

Launched in 2009, the EaP aims at promoting "political association and economic integration" between the EU and the six Eastern European partner countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine.