On 27 August, the President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili held an Interview with Anelise Borges from the Georgian Euronews channel.
Zourabichvili said that she wants her country to move closer to Europe amidst a spat with Russia over the occupied province of Abkhazia. She said that since 2008, Georgia did not have diplomatic relations with Russia, and that any future relationships with Russia “have to be based on mutual respect.”
Zourabichvili also spoke about her country’s aspirations of joining the EU. “Georgians feel that they are Europeans. It is not something they are striving for. They are European. They are also very optimistic about Europe because they think that European attraction is something that has no alternative, which is something that from the inside sometimes Europeans do not see,” she said.
Amidst the current BREXIT debate in Europe, the President of Georgia sees an opportunity for herr country to accelerate the ascension process. “I think that Brexit is certainly a very big challenge, but I’m sure that it will lead to new opportunities and to new obligations of Europe to reform itself, and being an optimist I am sure it will open new doors to us,” she concluded.
A day later, Zourabichvili went to France to open the forum of business leaders organized by MEDEF. MEDEF International was founded in 1989. It includes 750,000 private companies involved in aviation, railway, construction and other business sectors. At the conference Zourabichvili met with the president of business association MEDEF International Geoffroy Roux de Bezieux and other French entrepreneurs to present the investment opportunities in her country.
She reaffirmed her vision of Georgia becoming a member of the European family. “When I am told that European Union is a dream, I answer that the history of Europe are dreams that came true: Reconciliation of France and Germany, unification of Germany and expansion of Europe eastward. Europe is nothing if it is not dreaming. I told President and I will repeat the same here: Georgia wants the success of the project of European Renaissance,” she said.
In 2011 the former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced the desire for his country to join the EU. In June 2014, the EU and Georgia signed an Association Agreement (AA), which entered into force on 1 July 2016. This, along with the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) Agreement, builds the foundation of the EU-Georgia relations. In March 2017 the EU granted the Georgian citizens visa free travel to the Schengen Area. Georgia has not been recognized as an EU candidate country so far.
