Georgia’s eventual goal is membership in the European Union, but it is not on the government’s immediate agenda, Davit Bakradze, the Georgian parliamentary speaker said, adding that the authorities were instead making focus on “gradual sectoral integration” with EU.

“Eventually we see our place in Europe; it also means being part of the [EU’s] political institutions,” he told the NATO Parliamentary Assembly’s 76th Rose-Roth Seminar, which opened in Tbilisi on March 23.

“But we understand that at this point talking about immediate membership into the political institutions may be counterproductive, because we understand that EU is in a difficult situation in itself and at the moment there are lots of internal problems which EU has to deal with. So we do not put this issue on the agenda,” Bakradze said.

“Our strategy is little bit different. Our strategy is gradual sectoral integration [with EU],” Bakradze said, adding that part of the strategy was Georgia’s integration to EU’s economy through free trade agreement.

He also said that deepening links in various sectors would eventually “make it much easier to speak about further political integration.”