The Georgian Foreign Minister, Ms Maia Panjikidze, recently held an informal meeting in Luxembourg with her counterparts from European Union member states. The meeting was also attended by the EU's High Commissioner on Foreign Policy, Ms Federica Mogherini; by the European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy, Mr Štefan Füle; and by the European External Action Service's Deputy Secretary-general, Ms Helga Schmid. It should be noted that this meeting was the first to be held in this format, reports GHN based on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The meeting focused upon priorities and future prospects for co-operation between Georgia and the European Union; upon plans for the 2015 Riga Summit; upon the development of co-operation with the European Union following the signing of Georgia's Association Agreement; and upon the process whereby the visa regime between the two is to be liberalized.
As the Georgian Foreign Minister noted, Georgia has three main priorities for the 2015 Riga Summit: ‘Firstly, the completion of the Association Agreement's ratification by the EU member states. Secondly, an appropriate assessment of the progress Georgia has made towards the implementation of its visa liberalization action plan (VLAP) and the recommendation that Georgia be granted visa-free status at the Riga Summit. (This, however, is not to say that Georgians would enjoy visa-free travel to the European Union following the Riga Summit; instead, Georgia being the object of such a recommendation would be a very important step towards this goal.) And thirdly, we believe that the Riga Summit will open new prospects for Georgia's European integration.'
According to Ms Panjikidze, Georgia enjoys the strong support of the EU member states in terms of all these issues, as demonstrated during her informal meeting with the EU foreign ministers.
The Georgian Foreign Minister also discussed issues concerning security and stability in Georgia, including current developments in Georgia's occupied region of Abkhazia and the risks which signing the treaty Russia has offered may entail.
The informal meeting in Luxembourg was held at the initiative of Latvia, which will assume the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2015.