2016-12-01
DONALD TUSK, President of the European Council:
Good afternoon!
Today I welcome Prime Minister Kvirikashvili to Brussels. Again, welcome, Giorgi!
Let me use this opportunity to congratulate you on your reappointment as Prime Minister. I enjoyed working with you during the last year, and now I look forward to building on our good cooperation.
The recent parliamentary election in Georgia were competitive and respected fundamental freedoms. It was a true success for Georgia's democracy, and I thank the Prime Minister for his Government's dedication to ensuring such an outcome.
In our meeting today, I encouraged the Prime Minister to continue his close dialogue with the opposition and Georgia's civil society, and to govern and advance reforms in an inclusive fashion.
We discussed the strong relations between Georgia and the European Union. I pay tribute to Georgia's ambitious reform program and the AA DCFTA for the benefit of Georgia and EU-Georgia relations. The EU will continue to assist you in this process.
I also want to thank Georgia for being a strong partner in the Eastern Partnership. I look forward to setting further common objectives for this cooperation at our next Eastern Partnership Summit in November 2017.
Let me also take this opportunity to thank Georgia for its continued contributions to the EU crisis management operations, assisting us in advancing EU foreign and security policy objectives.
When it comes visa-free travel for Georgians, all member states confirmed last October the assessment that Georgia has met all required benchmarks. We are now working hard on the EU side, and I want to underline that on the EU side it is only our internal program to make sure that the required visa-suspension mechanism, which is a horizontal mechanism for all of the EU's visa arrangement, will be agreed as soon as possible.
Georgia deserves the timely and positive finalization of this process.
Finally, let me express my concern about the recent ratification of the so-called agreement between Russia and Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia on military cooperation.
For the EU it is clear on that this agreement violates international law, including the principle of the inviolability of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. It has no legal status for the European Union.
We are committed to peaceful resolution of conflict in Georgia, including through our chairmanship at the Geneva International Discussions and the EUMM.
In short, the EU will remain firm in its support of the territorial integrity of Georgia.
Thank you.
Thank you, Giorgi.
Giorgi Kvirikashvil, Prime Minister of Georgia:
President Tusk, dear Donald, dear friend!
This is a very important visit for us and I am pleased to be here.
On behalf of the Georgian Government, I want to convey sincere gratitude to the EU and you personally for the unwavering support to my country and our striving to come closer to the EU as much as possible.
Our commitment remains unchanged - we continue intensive and targeted reforms to bring our country in line with the best EU norms and standards. We look forward to the revised Association Agenda that will guide our work for the next four years to come.
On this line, I would like to refer to the first Association Implementation report on Georgia published by the EU a few days ago, which provides a valid proof of Georgia's substantial progress towards political association and economic integration.
Concrete achievements in consolidating democracy, strengthening the rule of law and judicial independence, protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms, stabilization and economic growth, increased investments and trade with the EU have created a solid foundation for further success stories on this path.
Let me reaffirm that we are committed to activating the full potential of these ambitious relations, which is in the interest of Georgia and the EU alike.
The EU's engagement in this process through providing strong incentives is critical in line with the differentiation and merit-based more-for-more approach, which are the core principles of the Eastern Partnership.
This brings us to the issue of the visa liberalization, which carries strong transformation effect in terms of wide-scale reforms and provides tangible benefits directly to the citizens. As Georgia has successfully fulfilled all the requirements, we expect that the EU will honour its share of commitment and introduce short-term visa free travel regime for citizens of Georgia.
I would like to take this opportunity and thank President Tusk personally for helping Georgia on this path!
Georgia is a key ally for the EU in the security sector and this was specially highlighted in the report. We continue contributing to the EU crisis management operations; we are willing to take our cooperation forward in order to meet the shared vision spelled out in the Global Strategy for Foreign and Security Policy.
We highly value the EU's firm support for Georgia territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. The EU's engagement through the EUMM, the sole international presence and active mediation in the Geneva International Discussions is a solid guarantee for maintaining peace and stability on the ground. This is especially critical against grave security and humanitarian consequences of the occupation Georgian historic territories by Russia.
To conclude, I would like to once again express my appreciation for President Tusk's warm welcome and interesting exchange of views.
Thank you!