Georgia: Association Agreement starting point for reforms

The EPP Group expects that the Association Agreement between the EU and Georgia will be the starting point for reforms following the vote by the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament (EP) today on the conclusion of the Agreement.

For the EPP Group, the ratification is a starting point in reforming Georgia and bringing it closer to the EU path and tackling the deficiencies and democratic shortcomings in the country.

“I welcome the adoption of the Report on the Association Agreement by the Foreign Affairs Committee. Georgia would be the third country to have this Agreement approved, after Ukraine and Moldova. It will be the ordinary people of Georgia who will, in the end, benefit from this historical Agreement. We expect the current Georgian government to guarantee the functioning of the impartial judiciary and refrain from using this tool against the opposition. There is no place for selective justice in any country associated with the European Union”, said Jaromír Štětina MEP, the EPP Group Rapporteur for Georgia.

“In the accompanying Resolution, we condemn the so-called ‘borderisation’ process, which led to expanding the occupied areas on Georgian territory. The territorial integrity of Georgia must never be compromised, and in this spirit, the European Parliament names Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories”, said Štětina, who is also Vice-President of the EP’s Subcommittee for Security and Defence.

The European Parliament will vote on the Association Agreement with Georgia at its plenary session in December this year.