Paet Reaffirms Georgia's Dream of European Integration
In his first visit to Georgia since Bidzina Ivanishvili became prime minister, Foreign Minister Urmas Paet has reaffirmed support for Georgia's integration with NATO and EU structures.
In the Black Sea city of Batumi, at meetings with Ivanishvili and parliament speaker David Usupašvili, Paet emphasised the importance of reforms.
"It is important that Georgia also continue the reform process," he said.
Paet said Estonia would discuss specific results for Georgia at the upcoming EU Eastern Partnership meeting in Vilnius at year's end.
"We support the initialing of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement as well as progress with the action plan on visa liberalization," he added.
Paet called Georgia a primary priority country for Estonia.
He said there was room for growth in bilateral relations. "We hope to shortly be signing an investment protection agreement with Georgia which would also help increase the business community's sense of security
In both meetings, Paet discussed domestic developments in Tbilisi and preparations for presidential elections in the last week of October, calling for "responsible conduct" from all political forces.