Tbilisi, November 10, 2017 - Today, Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili issued the following statement:
"I would like to congratulate everyone on the European Commission's very positive assessment of Georgia's performance in the course of the past year. The 2017 report discusses in detail Georgia's progress and tangible results in the implementation of the Association Agreement.
We highly appreciate the fact that the European Commission considers Georgia its major strategic partner in the region, and believes that Georgia has further cemented its excellent position through implementing reforms. Firstly, we prize the EU's firm support of Georgia's territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders. Importantly, the document singles out the fundamental constitutional reform commended by the Venice Commission. Equally positive is the assessment of Georgia's recent local elections, with the media environment in the country lauded as pluralistic and dynamic.
In addition, the document commends the results achieved in the months after the adoption of visa-free travel between Georgia and the EU, along with Georgia's accession to the Energy Community, our healthcare reforms, success in the area of tourism, and Georgia's leading positions in international rankings. As a result of a number of reforms implemented by our Government, the EU will allocate sizeable financial and expert assistance for the implementation of the Georgian Government's reform agenda in line with the 2017-2020 EU Single Support Framework. Georgia deeply appreciates the EU becoming our country's largest trade partner. Notably, Georgia is the EU's valued partner in the areas of security and combating terrorism and transnational crime.
It is also noteworthy that the publication of the report precedes the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels which, we are convinced, will give an equally positive assessment to our achievements in the process of EU association.
I would like to thank our international partners and our country's friends for their invaluable support in ensuring this progress. We believe that this success belongs equally to all of us.
-/-
European Commission's Association Implementation Report on Georgia is available here.