Prime Ministers of Romania, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Serbia, Georgia and Moldova held an informal meeting in Tulcea, eastern Romania.

Romanian PM Victor Ponta said on June 22 that this informal meeting was a good opportunity to discuss developments in EU’s Eastern Partnership and to reaffirm support to the countries aspiring to join the EU.

Georgian PM Irakli Garibashvili said at a news conference that Georgia’s European integration is “irreversible.”

He said that the Georgian government fully realizes “hard work” that will have to be done after Tbilisi signs the Association Agreement, including the deep and comprehensive free trade treaty, with the EU on June 27.

“But we are ready for this. We are fully motivated to implement these reforms,” Garibashvili said.

Ukrainian PM Arseniy Yatsenyuk was not able to join his counterparts in Tulcea because of developments in eastern Ukraine, according to the Romanian PM.
 
Responding to a question at the news conference on challenges and threats, especially in the context of developments in Ukraine, PM Garibashvili said that Georgia “is in a different situation when we compare it to Ukraine.”

“Ukraine was in much worse situation; of course we are absolutely concerned about the recent developments in Ukraine. I hope the new president and the new government of Ukraine will find a solution out of this crisis,” he said.

“I think the Georgian way is interesting, because we set a precedent, an example that on the one hand we made it clear that our [European] integration process is irreversible, but on the other hand it does not conflict with our aspiration to normalize relations with our neighboring countries, including Russia,” PM Garibashvili said.