New Europe: 'The G7 should support Georgia’s pro-Western future'

Belgian paper New Europe has published an op-ed written by Alexandr Vondra, MEP and former Defence Minister of the Czech Republic in which he talks about the G7 meeting, Russia's exclusion from the meeting and its 'aggressive military occupation of several of its neighbours', such as Ukraine and Georgia. 

Vondra writes that Georgia, 'perhaps more than anywhere, demonstrates perfectly the inherent tension between the Russian model of authoritarian aggression and economic decline, and the Western model of freedom, prosperity and democracy'.

He says that Georgia has a pro-European and pro-Western government and popular support for applying for EU and NATO membership runs at 80 per cent. 'The country is democratic – Georgian Dream’s recently-proposed electoral reform has been welcomed by the EU and US both of whom were involved in the negotiations and drafting', he writes.

Vondra stresses Georgia is a country that enjoys economic freedom and free trade agreements with a number of key countries, and says that despite the advance towards freedom and democracy, ‘Russian hostility and bullying against Georgia continues'. 

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