Prime Minister Garibashvili resigns
Highlights of his term in power

Signing an Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU) – one step closer to EU membership - was the country’s top achievement during Irakli Garibashvili’s term as the country’s Prime Minister.

Garibashvili, who announced his surprise resignation this evening, has held the post for two years and one month. Two days ago Garibashvili presented a report of what his Government had achieved since Georgian Dream (GD) coalition came into power in late 2012.

Georgia has strived to tighten ties with the EU for years; the country has never been as close to the European organisation as it is now, under Garibashvili’s leadership.

The EU-Georgia AA was signed in June 2014. Following this the greatest recognition of Georgia by the EU came via the release of Georgia’s positive visa liberalisation progress report by the European Commission earlier this month. The report will soon see Georgian citizens travel freely to Europe.

Another milestone reached during Garibashvili’s term as Prime Minister of Georgia was the introduction of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package in September 2014, which aimed to bring Georgia closer to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

A third great achievement reached in the past two years was intensifying Georgia’s relations with China. Garibashvili’s term saw Georgia increase its role as a regional hub that connected two of the world’s largest markets – Europe and China.

The past two years has also seen the tense relations between Russia and Georgia ease and normalise to a more acceptable level. The countries established trade relations and this week Russia relaxed its tough visa regulations for Georgian citizens. However, one main problem – Georgia’s territorial integrity – still remained a challenge.

Garibashvili positioned his Government as the most "social- and human-oriented”, noting all citizens mattered. The Universal Health Care Program was implemented during his term, which saw all Georgian citizens enjoy state health insurance for the first time in the country’s history.

Garibashvili’s period also saw the strongest deprecation of the national currency, the Georgian Lari, during the past several years. The Prime Minister himself said it was due to "global economic instability”.