PM Marks 8th Anniversary of Signing Association Agreement with EU
By Khatia Bzhalava
TUesday, June 28, 2022
On Monday, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili marked the 8th anniversary of the signing of the Association Agreement with the European Union, calling it a ‘historic date’.
According to him, a few tangible outcomes have been achieved by the country since. Firstly, he talked about the free trade agreement made with the EU, through which Georgian entrepreneurs are exporting their goods to the EU without any barriers. The second major achievement is visa-free travel, according to PM. All citizens of Georgia travel to EU countries without visas with Georgian passports, which, according to the PM, is also a tangible result. The third achievement is Georgia's European perspective as recently recognized by European leaders.
As Garibashvili noted, by granting Georgia a European perspective, the European leaders pledged that Georgia will become a member of the EU. The head of the Government stressed the ruling Georgian Dream party had obtained these three ‘main achievements’ in ‘just 8-10 years.’
Garibashvili also underlined that the process of Association Agreement negotiations was delayed under the previous authorities.
According to the Prime Minister, far-reaching human rights, penitentiary, educational, and science reforms have been implemented alongside those in the areas of innovations, agriculture, transport, public service, energy, and regional development.
“believe that we will receive the [EU membership] candidate status very soon and we will continue to advance and develop our country. This is that real thing that the country has been able to do under our governance”, he stressed, adding that on the initiative of the ruling party Georgia’s foreign policy was defined as Euro-Atlantic on a constitutional level.
