Czech FM at Batumi Int’t Conference: ‘freedom of Eastern Partnership allies is freedom of the EU’
Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek said that the Eastern Partnership initiative should add three more goals. Photo: Foreign Ministry press office.
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Czech Foreign Minister Tomas Petricek says that the EU realised the need for the Eastern Partnership initiative just 10 months after the Russia-Georgia 2008 war.
Only 10 months after the end of the Russian-Georgian War, we understood that we needed partners in the post-Soviet space and that the freedom of our allies there is directly connected with the freedom of the EU,” Petricek stated during the 16th Batumi International Conference.
He said that in terms of the Eastern Partnership, three additional steps should be taken: strengthening of already achieved milestones, supporting economic and social sustainability in the partner nations and carrying out educational programmes.
At the panel "Life after Association: In Search of a Greater Purpose" comprehensively discussed #Georgia's ambitious reform agenda, #EU sectroal cooperation & physical integration in energy,transport,trade fields.Thanks to the participants for interesting exchange of views #EaP10 pic.twitter.com/pHPKfoU1nU
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) July 12, 2019
The 16th Batumi International Conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative, opened yesterday with an “unprecedented number” of foreign guests, including the president of the European Council Donald Tusk and foreign ministers from eight countries.
The EU Eastern Partnership format unites six Eastern European countries: Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine. The objective of the format is to support democracy, prosperity and stability in the region.
Russian Foreign Ministry responded to the President of European Council Donald Tusk who said the collapse of the Soviet Union was “a blessing" to Georgians, Poles, Ukrainians and the whole of Central and Eastern Europe, and also to Russians.
“When I say Georgia, I mean freedom, when I say Georgia, I mean pride, when I say Georgia, I mean courage. You are a small country, but a great nation. You have achieved impossible things, because you were, despite all the differences, united around a common goal, that was a free, independent and modern state,” Tusk stated.
The foreign ministers of Poland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Armenia, Hungary, Czech, Moldova and UK have met with top Georgian politicians to strengthen economic and political ties with the country.
‘We are interested in attracting more investments from the EU’
Georgian Economy Minister Natia Turnava spoke at a panel titled ‘1st Eastern Partnership Investment forum: 10 Years After Prague’ at the16th Batumi International Conference, dedicated to the 10th anniversary of the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.
Twenty per cent more Hungarian tourists have visited Georgia this year, which is a good reason to launch direct flights between the two countries, Georgia Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze told Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto in Batumi, on the sidelines of the Batumi 16th International Conference.