Georgia’s 2014 goal - sign EU agreement, says President

Georgia’s President hosted ambassadors of the EU member states and discussed Georgia’s EU integration process today.

The main topic of the working lunch at the Funiculor Restaurant was Georgia’s de-occupation, signing of the Association Agreement and the situation near the occupation line.

"The most important goal that Georgia has this year is signing the Association Agreement. We talked about the details of this process and the obligations that Georgia will have after signing it. Naturally, we also talked about regional issues,” President Giorgi Margvelashvili said.

Deputy Head of the EU delegation in Georgia Boris Iarochevitch said 2014 would be "crucial” for EU-Georgian relations.

"The Association Agreement will be signed and some recommendation will be executed. Therefore, it is interesting to discuss the main issues of what can be done throughout the year to ensure a peaceful signing of the important document. In the near future we are planning to publish recommendations, which will basically cover the spheres of rule of law, justice and economy,” he said.

German Ambassador in Georgia Ortwin Hennig following the meeting said the discussed topic had been the Georgia’s cooperation with EU.

"Georgia has the strong moral and political support from EU. We focused on country’s inner political situation as well as the regional problems that could influence on Georgia’s foreign policy,” Hennig said.

It was also announced that the German and French foreign ministers will visit Georgia in the nearest future.

The UK Ambassador in Georgia Alexandra Hall believed Georgia will sign the Association Agreement with EU this summer.

President Margvelashvili also spoke about the controversial video of Vano Merabishvili. He called on the Prosecution to quickly investigate the incident.

Margvelashvili again stressed the importance of the presumption of innocence but he also noted that this information was very important for the investigation.

Today’s event was also attended by the State Minister on European & Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili and Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani.

Later, Margvelashvili responded to the event on his twitter account:

"It was a fruitful business dinner with the ambassadors of #EU countries, that will have an intensive character," he wrote.