BBC: “Georgia's long road to Europe”

"Almost a century later, many in Georgia regard the EU deal as a historic opportunity."

By Tamar Svanidze - Journalist of agenda.ge

Agenda.ge, Jun 27, 2014, Tbilisi, Georgia

Georgia is signing an Association Agreement with the European Union (EU) today.

The country’s aspirations to join the EU spans many years and is riddled with historical compounds.

In a BBC article by journalist Rayhan Demytrie, the author explains a similar path was chosen by Noe Zhordania, leader of the short-lived Democratic Republic of Georgia, which was created after the collapse of the Russian Empire in 1918.

What do we have to offer to the cultural treasure of the European nations? A 2,000-year-old national culture, a democratic system and natural wealth. Soviet Russia offered us a military alliance, which we rejected, Zhordania was quoted as saying.

We have taken different paths. They are heading for the East and we are going towards the West, Zhordania said.

But his aspirations disappeared in 1921 when the Red Army invaded the country and Georgia became a part of the Soviet republic.

Demytrie’s article was published today on the BBC website.

Read the full article on: www.bbc.com