PM Garibashvili has positive expectations towards EU-NATO negotiations

The government was anticipating an expedited process for the Association Agreement with EU, Georgias Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili stated in his interview given to Rustavi 2 TV channel yesterday.

He said the the EUs decision to accelerate this process was a clear confirmation that expectations towards the new government are very high.

"This is the result of our work throughout the year, Garibashvili added and once again expressed his gratitude for EUs decision.

The Prime Minister of Georgia believes that statements, concerning the period before the Association Agreement signing with EU will be very difficult, are exaggerated. He also assumes that comparing Georgia to Ukraine is wrong since the latter is more dependent on Russia than Georgia. According to him, this is because Georgia only has trade relations with the neighbor (Russia) with some limited restoration which has been a step forwards towards the bilateral relations normalization. However PM thinks that the complications from these relations will not be a great loss for the countrys economy since its market has become well diversified.

"I would like to remind the critics, skeptics, and everyone else that our situation is different. It is up to Ukraine to decide in which direction their country will develop. We clearly observed Ukraines example and was sad but expressed our hope that the government of Ukraine will make a decision in favor of Ukrainian people, Garibashvili added.

PM Garibashvili has also mentioned the relations with NATO.  According to him, the new government has a different approach and style of working in this sense.

"We do not want to pre-set expectations like the former government did and a clear example of the purpose of receiving the MAP (Membership Action Plan).  I would just say that there is a positive expectation which is provided by the statements made by the NATO senior leadership," - Garibashvili said.