Georgia-Ukraine-Moldova deal, requesting EU+3 format for sectoral integration, new benefits
Georgian-Ukraine-Moldova are requesting the creation of a new format of cooperation with the EU. Photo: ukrinform.
Tweet 
Share
Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, three Eastern Partnership countries, have signed a joint statement on the creation of a format of the EU plus the three countries for sectoral integration in transport, energy and other fields and to have full access to four liberties of the EU - free movement of goods, services, capital and the labour force.
The statement, which has been signed earlier today on the sidelines of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava, has been handed to the High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Josep Borrell.
Happening now: meeting of the Ministers of FA of EaP countries with the High Representative @JosepBorrellF ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? ???????? pic.twitter.com/oebrRC43lP
— MFA of Georgia (@MFAgovge) December 5, 2019
It is the first joint, political statement of the three countries on the EU integration topic.
The statement also reads that 10 years since the creation of the EU Eastern Partnership format, uniting Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine, it is time a long-term strategy be drafted “which will ensure a closer cooperation of the countries with the EU.”
The statement says that EU integration is the free choice of the three EU-associated states and the choice “must remain free from any influence of the third country.”
Starting my participation at #OSCEMC19 meeting my 6 #EasternPartnership colleagues. Key political priority for #EU to keep our cooperation high on the strategic agenda and work with all partners, at all level. ???????????????????????????????????????????????? pic.twitter.com/4ZVxi1IZy2
— Josep Borrell Fontelles (@JosepBorrellF) December 5, 2019
The Eastern Partnership was created on April 7, 2009 to support democracy, prosperity and stability in Eastern Europe.
Georgia and the EU signed an Association Agreement on June 27, 2014 and on July 1, 2016 the agreement and its inclusive Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) deal fully entered into force.
Eighty per cent of Georgians feel relations with the EU are good, while 71 per cent of people in Georgia trust the EU, a recent survey funded by the EU reads.
The Georgian parliament has presented the action plan of the implementation of the EU Association Agreement (EUAA) for 2019-2020, defining the parliament’s activities in the process.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs (LIBE) has given yet another green light to Georgian visa liberalisation.
Today is one of the most important days for Georgia on its European Union (EU) integration path as the country’s Association Agreement (AA) with the EU is fully and officially coming into force.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani spoke of the security and humanitarian situation in the two Russian-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) at the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council in Bratislava today.
The group of friends of Georgia in the OSCE has delivered a joint statement to reaffirm their “firm support” for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, condemn the Russian aggression and demand the release of a well-known Georgian doctor Vazha Gaprindashvili who has been in illegal detention in Georgia’s Russian-controlled Tskhinvali region for about a month.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with the Chair of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), Slovak Foreign Minister Miroslav Lajcak in Bratislava, Slovakia on the sidelines of the 26th OSCE Ministerial Council yesterday.
Foreign Ministers of Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova, David Zalkaliani, Vadym Prystaiko and Aureliu Ciocoi, have addressed the European Commission over the importance of “relevant financial support” for the Eastern Partnership in the next EU Multiannual Financial Framework for 2021-2027.