Irakli Kobakhidze: Recent developments keep us optimistic that the partnership with the United States will be restored; as for relations with the European Union, they are full of challenges and, despite an unfair approach, we continue to fulfill our obligations
Our desire is to restore the strategic partnership with the United States from a clean slate and with a concrete roadmap,” Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze stated during the presentation of the government program’s annual implementation report in Parliament.
According to the Prime Minister, he had a very friendly and interesting conversation with Secretary of State Marco Rubio, which also maintains optimism regarding the restoration of the strategic partnership with the United States.
“For us, of course, restoring the strategic partnership with the United States is very important. We have made a number of public statements about this, including myself personally. Our desire is to restore the strategic partnership with the United States from a clean slate and with a concrete roadmap. Recent developments keep us optimistic that the strategic partnership will be restored. I personally had a phone call with Secretary Rubio. We had a very friendly and interesting conversation regarding bilateral cooperation. After that, a technical visit from the State Department took place in Georgia. These processes keep us optimistic about the restoration of the strategic partnership with the United States,” Kobakhidze said.
In addition, the Prime Minister spoke about Georgia-European Union relations and noted that, despite an unfair approach, the government continues to fulfill its obligations to the EU.
“Regarding relations with the European Union, you know that these relations are full of challenges; however, we are doing everything to properly fulfill the obligations arising from the Association Agreement and the Free Trade Agreement. During the reporting period, we had fundamental progress in this regard. 80% of Georgia’s obligations to the EU have already been fulfilled, including 81% of obligations stemming directly from the Association Agreement. This shows our approach to the issue. Despite an unfair approach and numerous challenges, we are consistently continuing to fulfill our obligations to the European Union,” Irakli Kobakhidze stated.
