I was equally glad to hear about your commitment to addressing shortcomings indicated in the OSCE/ODIHR reports in view of the 2020 parliamentary elections,- Federica Mogherini, High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, said at a joint press conference with Prime Minister of Georgia Mamuka Bakhtadze.

“It is always a pleasure to welcome you and you delegation here in Brussels. Only a few months ago, you were here for the meeting of the Georgian Government and the members of the European Commission, and just before that we both had the honor to speak at the opening of the Frankfurt Book Fair where Georgia was Guest of Honor. Today, we held a very good meeting, the 5th meeting of the Association Council. The frequency with which we meet, as well as the intensity and richness of our discussions, illustrate-if you allow me to speak on behalf of Georgia-we both consider it to be a very important, mutually beneficial friendship and partnership,” Federica Mogherini said.

According to her, Georgia has made great steps on the implementation of Association Agreement.

“The EU granted Georgian citizens short-stay visa-free travel to the Schengen Area almost two years ago. Since then, more than 300,000 Georgian citizens have benefitted from this and traveled to EU countries. This is one of the tangible results we have achieved together. We also spoke today about ways in which we can address some problems related to this. But, overall, making it sustainable over time. As I mentioned, this is one of the main achievements we have managed to put in place for our citizens,” Federica Mogherini said.

The High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy noted that the fact that the President of Georgia chose Brussels as the destination of her first international visit, sent a very clear message to EU.

“We spoke today of the outcome of the presidential elections last November. I had the honor of welcoming here in Brussels the new President, Madam President, who chose Brussels as the destination of her first international visit. And this sent a very clear message to us. I expressed to her then-and to you, Mister Prime Minister, today-the importance of reconciliation and dialogue following a polarizing electoral campaign.

I was equally glad to hear about your commitment to addressing shortcomings indicated in the OSCE/ODIHR reports in view of the 2020 parliamentary elections.

We also discussed the importance of continuing the good work already done in the area of rule of law and for Georgia further to strengthen its judicial institutions in a transparent manner. We continue to fully support your territorial integrity. This is actually what we started with in our meeting today. We support your territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders, and we are committed to peace, stability, and peaceful conflict-resolution, which will benefit all Georgians and the wider region. We constantly work for peace through our Special Representative for South Caucasus and the Crisis in Georgia, our co-chairmanship of the Geneva International Discussions, and our EU Monitoring Mission that is the only presence on the ground. We just recently extended its mandate. We support your peace initiative A Step to a Better Future. We discussed it at length. I appreciate your leadership on this, and you know you can count on us in this respect.

Finally, we have somehow already started to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership. Let me thank you once again for your commitment to this common project. The Batumi Conference in July will be an important moment dedicated to the achievements and future of the Eastern Partnership. Thank you for hosting that and for being here today. We have plenty of achievements we can be rightly proud of but, as we discussed today, there is still work to do. There is potential in the relationship to make most out of it and more benefits to bring to both the EU and Georgian citizens,

Thank you very much, Mister Prime Minister, for this good meeting and your good work,” Federica Mogherini said.