EU en Georgië bespreken samenwerking (en)

COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Brussels, 12 December 2013 (OR. en) PRESSE 570

14th EU-Georgia Cooperation Council

The European Union and Georgia held the fourteenth annual meeting of their Co-operation Council on 12 December, 2013, in Brussels. The EU was represented by Mr Linas Linkevičius, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania, on behalf of the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Baroness Catherine Ashton, and by Štefan Füle, Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. The Georgian delegation was headed by Dr Maia Panjikidze, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who chaired the Cooperation Council, and by Alex Petriashvili, State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration

The EU congratulated the Georgian side on the continuing consolidation of Georgian democracy as represented by the recent presidential election, and looked forward to the continuation of this positive trend during the 2014 local elections. The EU welcomed the constructive role played by both sides in parliament during the period of cohabitation which ended with the inauguration of the new President. The EU stressed the importance of continued respect for political pluralism and media freedom as the hallmarks of a healthy democracy. The EU called for criminal prosecutions to be conducted in a transparent and impartial manner, to avoid any perception of political motivation. The EU also flagged the protection of the rights of people belonging to minorities as a priority issue, requiring sustained attention

The two sides discussed recent developments in conflict resolution in Georgia. The EU reconfirmed its support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and its commitment to conflict resolution efforts in Georgia, including through its co-chairmanship of the Geneva International Talks and through the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia. The EU signalled its concern at moves to install obstacles to free movement across the Administrative Boundary Line with the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia

Both sides looked ahead to the signature by autumn 2014 of the Association Agreement, including Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, initialled at the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, at the earliest opportunity, with a view to pressing forward with implementation in order to bring their benefits to their citizens