Estonia’s President: Georgia should fight for its European future

Estonia’s President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has begun a two day official visit in Georgia.

Georgia's President Giorgi Margvelashvili hosted his Estonian counterpart yesterday in the Presidential Palace.

The sides discussed the situation in Georgia and in the region, as well as the challenges facing the region and in Europe. Future prospects of bilateral cooperation was also on the agenda, said the President’s press office.

Ilves stressed European Union (EU) membership was a good thing but Georgia needed to do its homework before it could become a member.

He also summed up the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga and said Georgia had received "a very positive result" at the international event, however looking ahead the country still needed to fulfill certain technical requirements.

The results of the Summit were positive; the point is that a decision related to visa liberalisation is possible before the end of this year if Georgia addresses certain technical issues. By the end of this year a decision will be made to liberalise a visa regime between Georgia and the EU,” Ilves said at the press conference yesterday.

Let's see what happens in the next 4-5 months. Georgia should take into account the fact that it is necessary to match its legal framework with European legislation. Of course EU membership is a good thing, but Georgia has to do its homework first," he said.

The Estonian president encouraged Georgia and all its people to continue on its current path. He emphasized that despite some internal barriers, Georgia must continue moving toward its main goal; which is to become a member of the EU family.

We knew that certain countries were against us when we went down this path and tried achieving our European goals, but we focused on our friends and Georgia should share the good feelings that countries have towards you. This is quite a long process," said Ilved.

Estonia signed its Association Agreement with the EU in 1995, but joined the EU in 2004, so [at the time] nothing was mentioned about our EU accession. All this did not happen immediately but we achieved our goal,” the Estonian official said.

Meanwhile Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili stressed Georgia had quite a lot of supporters regarding the country's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

First of all we must emphasize that Georgia has a lot of serious allies in its European and Euro-Atlantic integration process. So when we talk about our prospects, we must see that in addition to the skeptics, there are clear allies who work hard to make Georgia’s way towards the EU and NATO a success. When we listen to comments of Russian politicians in connection with the Riga Summit, we should see what the reality is and what Georgia has got,” Margvelashvili said.

He confirmed Georgia will strengthen its efforts towards continuing pursuing its European path. He also thanked his Estonian counterpart for his support.

I hope that the Estonian president’s current visit to Georgia will give a new stimulus to a very intensive cooperation that exists between our two countries. Estonia helps us not only politically but also personally in EU and NATO forums. Estonia's experience is very important for us,” Margvelashvili said.

We will continue to move along our Euro-Atlantic path. Georgia has a very powerful mechanism in the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package. We have strong mechanisms in the direction of the European Union as well. I assured my colleague that Georgia would further strengthen its efforts for its European path. I hope that this visit will further deepen the level of cooperation between us," Margvelashvili said.

The Estonian president will end his official visit in Georgia later today.