About twenty Georgian civil society organizations, watchdog groups and think tanks announced on September 5 about launching Coalition for Euro-Atlantic Georgia to, as they put it, consolidate their efforts in supporting country’s NATO and EU integration.

Members of the coalition say that it is essential to “consolidate active part of the civil society in facilitating Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration process and plan to carry out various activities to support this goal.”

“Peaceful development of a free and independent Georgia will be best achieved through its integration into NATO and the European Union; our goal is to contribute towards building a free, independent state where human rights and liberties are duly observed and state institutions efficiently function. To achieve this, we will [carry out] concerted efforts and closely cooperate with each other to expedite Georgia’s full integration into the Euro-Atlantic institutions,” reads the declaration signed by the group of non-governmental organizations on September 5.

The coalition includes: Transparency International Georgia; Civil Development Agency; International Society for Fair Elections and Democracy; Georgian Young Lawyers’ Association; Open Society Georgia Foundation; Atlantic Council of Georgia; Georgian Farmers Association; Institute for Development of Freedom of Information; Economic Policy Research Center; Green Alternative; Georgian Center for Security and Development; Media Development Foundation; UN Association of Georgia; Society and Banks; Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies; Georgian Democracy Initiative; Georgian Institute of Politics; Regional Centre for Strategic Studies; In-depth Reporting and Advocacy Center, and Voice from Georgia.