At Informal EaP Dialogue in Georgia: advancing European values
Tbilisi (13th February) – "The countries of our Eastern Neighbourhood have a unique opportunity to combine the value based relationship of the Eastern Partnership with strategic projects," Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle said at the meetings of the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue sectoral ministerial meeting on transport in Tbilisi today.
He told the Ministers of Transport from the six partner countries: "I hope that through transport-transit we could significantly strengthen the cooperation with our partners from the Easter Partnership countries.’’
Commissioner Füle was participating in the meeting together with the Vice-President of the European Commission responsible for Transport Siim Kallas.
Yesterday Commissioner Füle attended the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue with the Foreign Ministers where he stated: "This second meeting of the Informal Eastern Partnership Dialogue is about shaping the expectation of the upcoming Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius when we hope to sign the Association Agreement with Ukraine and conclude the negotiations with Georgia, Moldova and Armenia and also advance in our negotiations with Azerbaijan."
He also held bilateral talks with the Georgian partners. In the meetings with Georgian President Saakashvili and Prime Minister Ivanishvili Commissioner Füle stressed: "The road between now and the Eastern Partnership Vilnius Summit in November is a historic moment for Georgia to deliver on the major challenges of cohabitation. Politicians are expected to find the channels of communication for successfully tackling the most important interests Georgia – and I believe the EU agenda is one of them. Pragmatic and value based cohabitation are needed to successfully deliver on Georgia’s EU aspirations at the Vilnius Summit.’’
The Commissioner also met with Chairman of the Parliament David Usupashvili and Chairman of the Parliamentary Minority David Bakradze. In these meetings he highlighted once more that Georgia is an example of consistency and commitment on the way of agreed reforms and should continue in this way despite the challenges in the process of cohabitation.
During his two-day visit to Tbilisi Commissioner Füle also signed a financial agreement with, Georgian Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic integration Alexander Petriashvili worth €20 million to support the reform process in Georgia.