Estonia’s top diplomat will visit Georgia during EU Council presidency

Estonian (L), Georgian Foreign Ministers meet in Brussels, Belgium, December 6. Photo by MFA of Georgia.

Agenda.ge, 07 Dec 2016 - 11:28, Tbilisi,Georgia

As a sign of Estonia’s firm support for Georgia’s European integration, Estonia’s Foreign Minister Sven Mikser will visit Georgia when his country holds the European Council presidency next year.

Mikser announced his intended trip when he met his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Janelidze in Brussels, Belgium yesterday.

Congrats 2FM Sven Mikser #Estonia on his appointment.Looking fwd 2enhancing bilat.relations & intensive coop.on EU&EuroAtlantic issues pic.twitter.com/qhZHUG6r5X
— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) December 6, 2016

Yesterday and today Brussels is hosting various meetings of NATO Foreign Ministers. Georgia’s Foreign Minister is attending the meetings as a representative of a NATO partner country.

Estonia will take over the EU Council’s six-month rotating presidency in the second half of 2017. That’s the period when Mikser will visit Georgia.

At yesterday’s meeting the Estonian diplomat stressed Georgia had shown "impressive progress” in its Euro-Atlantic integration process. Mikser said that Georgia had:

Contributed to Euro-Atlantic security;
Participated in NATO operations;
Was involved in the Alliance’s activities at various levels.

Because of these and other reasons, Mikser said this was why Estonia was committed to the EU's open door policy.

He also said he wanted Georgia to receive its long-awaited EU visa waiver in a timely manner.