Lithuania’s Foreign Minister: We need Georgia in Euro-Atlantic family

"We need you in our Euro-Atlantic family” – these words were spoken by Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius in the Georgian capital Tbilisi today.

Linkevicius spoke at an international conference on security, economic opportunity freedom and human rights in Europe, attended by Georgian leaders and more than a hundred international officials and experts.

"Georgia can become a NATO member,” Linkevicius told the crowd.

"You already have a NATO Training Centre, all the instruments and a promise. Working hard is what matters most at the moment.”

He called on Georgian politicians to "stop whining and continue fighting” and also to end domestic confrontations.

"It is not necessary to lock representatives of the opposition in prison - you can work more persuasively and less painfully,” he said.

"When you lose time by fighting each other, your opponents benefit from it. You can, of course, have political discussions but when the atmosphere is so tense, you cannot really afford to spend so much time on confrontations.”

Frank&candid talk w/@PrimeMinisterGE. Strong commitment to continue reforms towards Euro-Atlantic integration. pic.twitter.com/0UJpRyKZGE

— Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) September 7, 2015

Earlier today Linkevicius met Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, after which the Lithuanian Foreign Minister tweeted that the pair had a "frank” and "candid” talk and Georgia remained strongly committed to continue reforms towards Euro-Atlantic integration.