Georgian PM marks 9th anniversary of Association Agreement with EU

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili on Tuesday marked the ninth anniversary of the country becoming an Associated Member of the European Union by saying the “historic event” had given rise to a “consistent move towards the eventual integration of Georgia into the European Union”.

In his remarks over the date, Garibashvili noted the free trade agreement with the EU had given Georgian entrepreneurs the opportunity to export their products to the bloc “without any barriers”.

The ever-increasing dynamics of trade have tangible consequences for the well-being of our citizens. The possibility of free movement throughout the EU with a Georgian passport, brought by the agreement on visa-free travel, is also particularly important for our citizens”, Garibashvili said.

“On March 3 of last year, I signed Georgia's application for EU membership. The continuation of this process was the granting of a European perspective to Georgia by the European Union. For the first time in our history, Europe has publicly and unequivocally declared that Georgia will become a member state of the European Union”, the Government head continued.

Garibashvili also stressed that after a “long period of stagnation”, the result, which he said had been achieved in less than 10 years, was the result of “joint efforts” of the Government and a “large part of the public”.

I believe that this process will continue at the end of the year with the well-deserved recognition of these efforts and the granting of [the EU membership] candidate status, which will become the beginning of the decisive stage of Georgia's accession to the European Union”, he concluded.