European Commission will stand by Georgia

Georgia has committed to Europe and as a result it has faced "undue pressure and the European Commission will stand by our partners, says an organisation representative.

High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs & Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission, Catherine Ashton said the EU would stand by its partners.

Her comments responded to Micha? Tomasz Kami?ski, European Parliament member from Warsaw, who questioned "Georgia-EU security cooperation.

"Eastern Partnership members, including Georgia, have come under increasing pressure in recent months to reconsider their European and Euro-Atlantic choices. The EU deplores undue pressure on partners which breaches the Helsinki Principles; in such cases, the EU will stand by its partners, Ashton wrote in a statement on January 15.

She believed Georgia's commitment to the path of European and Euro-Atlantic choice was strong, and was demonstrated by the Resolution on Basic Directions of Georgias Foreign Policy adopted by the Georgian Parliament on May 7, 2013.Georgias commitment was further backed up by numerous statements and declarations by Georgia's leaders, including the inaugural address by President Giorgi Margvelashvili on November 17, 2013.

Ashton was asked if the Commission was aware of the pressure that Russia had placed on Georgia in regards to its NATO membership.

However Ashton said that the EU could not comment on matters relating to the relationship of third countries with NATO.

In reference to Georgia-EU security cooperation, Ashton said that on November 29 last year at the Vilnius Eastern Partnership Summit, the EU and Georgia signed a Framework Participation Agreement, which formalised arrangements for Georgia's participation in EU-led crisis management operations.