In a joint statement EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, and Commissioner for European Neighbourhood Policy, Štefan Füle, congratulated Giorgi Margvelashvili on his victory in the October 27 presidential election.

“Furthermore, we congratulate the Georgian people on this demonstration of their country's strong democratic credentials,” reads the statement.

“We call on President-Elect Margvelashvili to work with the Prime Minister and government, with the Parliament including opposition parties, and with civil society, in an inclusive and multipartisan spirit with a view to taking forward Georgia's ambitious programme of reforms and institution building.”

“On the eve of the Eastern Partnership Summit in Vilnius, which will mark a significant step forward in EU-Georgia relations, we look forward to continued close cooperation with Georgia on our ambitious mutual agenda of political association and economic integration,” Aston and Füle say in their joint statement.

Also on October 28, Presidents of Lithuania, Latvia, Armenia and Turkey, as well as the PM of Turkey congratulated Margvelashvili.

Swedish Foreign Minister Carl Bildt tweeted: “I congratulate Georgia on its well-run presidential election and Giorgi Margvelashvili on clearly being the winner.”

When asked during a press conference on October 28 if he expects congratulations on his victory from the Russian leadership, Margvelashvili responded: “It’s probably a question that has to be asked to the Russian authorities not to me… I had expectations from the Georgian voters and those expectations have been met.”