Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs hails the beginning of negotiations regarding the associated membership of Georgia to EU. Deputy Minister Aleksandre Nalbandov summed up the politically overloaded last week at the briefing today that the associated membership plan will replace the previous format of Georgia`s cooperation with EU, which was called the agreement on partnership and cooperation. The new phase of relations with EU implies intensification of cooperation.
`The new agreement will give Georgia a chance to move on a new stage of cooperation with EU, which includes economic integration and the politically associated membership,` Nalbandov said.
The first round of associated membership plan was held on July 15 in Batumi. Baroness Catherine Ashton, the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union arrived in Georgia last week to launch these negotiations with Georgian president.