President Saakashvili met with Moldovan PM Vlad Filat in Poland on September 7 and discussed joint strategy ahead of high-level EU Eastern Partnership Summit later this month in Warsaw, the Georgian President’s administration said. PM Filat and President Saakashvili “agreed on developing joint, effective action plan, which will further accelerate integration in frames of European partnership,” the Georgian President’s administration said. It also said that the joint action plan would help yield more positive results from upcoming EU Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw on September 29-30. The meeting was held on a sideline of economic forum in southern Polish city of Krynica Zdroj. Polish PM Donald Tusk, whose country currently holds EU’s rotating presidency, met separately with the Georgian President and Moldovan PM also on September 7. Meanwhile, speaking at an economic forum in Krynica Zdroj, Polish PM Tusk, said on September 7, that Georgia and Moldova made a significant progress on their path of integration to the Europe “thanks to the determination of the political leadership” of these two countries. “A few years ago no one thought that the path of Georgia and Moldova towards Europe would be so fast thanks to determination of the political leadership,” PM Tusk said, adding that this determination “shortens the path, which these countries have to cover to join the European Union.” He said that Brussels should send “a very powerful” message to those willing to integrate to the EU in order to further boost the drive of those countries. PM Tusk also said that Belarus could also count on Poland’s support on the condition that standards of democracy and human rights were respected by Minks. Eastern Partnership, unveiled by EU in late 2008, is a cooperation platform for six post-Soviet states: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, offering them closer ties with EU, short of membership. President Saakashvili said on September 7, that he was expecting “a very serious breakthrough” this autumn in terms of Georgia’s EU integration and added that Poland was providing a huge support to Tbilisi. Tornike Gordadze, the deputy foreign minister and Georgia’s chief negotiator on Association Agreement with EU, who attended a meeting between PM Tusk and President Saakashvili, said: “The Polish PM has explicitly stated that Georgia and Moldova are leaders in [EU's] Eastern Partnership.” “He [the Polish PM] stressed, that from this summit we should expect more integration with EU, in particular announcement of when talks will be launched between EU and Georgia on [deep and comprehensive free trade agreement]; these talks will start in the nearest future,” Gordadze said in televised remarks aired by Rustavi 2 TV on September 7. |
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