EU offers financial aid to Georgia

The European Union continues to show its support for Georgia and has committed to increase the amount of funding it offers the country.

Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze confirmed Europe was interested in strengthening ties with Georgia and was "deeply interested” in signing the Association Agreement (AA) with Georgia.

"We have constantly said preparing to sign the AA is quite a long and technically hard process. It requires a financial contribution too. Therefore the desire to help us complete all the responsibilities we must fulfill before the signature is clear,” she said.

The allocation of additional financial aid was an expression of support by the EU, Panjikidze stated. 

It has not been confirmed how much additional funding will be allocated to Georgia.

Meanwhile the EU’s desire to assist Georgia was highlighted in the independent online newspaper EUobserver. The website said the EU was considering hiring lobbyists to counter Russian "disinformation” and give more money to Georgia and Moldova in reaction to the Ukraine crisis.

The ideas were put forward in two internal papers - seen by EUobserver - to be discussed by EU Foreign Ministers at a lunch in Brussels on Monday, February 10.

One paper, entitled "20 points on the Eastern Partnership post-Vilnius,” was written by Sweden and signed by 12 other EU countries, including Germany, Poland and the UK.

It called for Georgia and Moldova to sign EU pacts by August, but had lower ambitions for Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, and Ukraine.