Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, together with his Ukrainian and Moldovan counterparts, Denys Shmyhal, and Natalia Gavrilița, is holding high-level meetings in Brussels.

Today, European Council President Charles Michel hosted a working dinner in honor of Irakli Garibashvili, Denys Shmyhal, and Natalia Gavrilița.

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Welcomed @GharibashviliGe @natgavrilita and @Denys_Shmyhal to discuss how to further advance reform efforts ahead of our upcoming EaP summit pic.twitter.com/JrfRwlFA6h

— Charles Michel (@eucopresident) November 30, 2021

According to the government’s press service, Georgian PM emphasized the recent meeting of the leaders of the Associated Trio in Batumi, with President Charles Michel’s participation, and praised it as a strong step toward even deeper relations. Irakli Garibashvili proposed an initiative to hold regular meetings between the EU and the Associated Trio’s leaders, with the Associated States taking turns as hosts.

The meeting discussed the upcoming December 15 Eastern Partnership Summit and emphasized that, importantly, its declaration must reflect issues and expectations prioritized by the Associated Trio countries.

The Prime Ministers of the three countries reaffirmed their common position that the summit should offer the partner states new opportunities on the path toward further EU integration based on the differentiation and more for more principles. The parties also discussed the priorities and directions important in terms of deeper cooperation between the three countries and the EU.

Irakli Garibashvili also underlined the Georgian Government’s ambitious goal of officially applying for full EU membership in 2024. He pointed out that it is paramount for the summit’s final declaration to reflect Georgia’s European choice and firm support for the country’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, with connectivity being another priority direction for Georgia: transport and communications ties to the EU, and concrete steps in this direction, also access to the common EU economic space, while maximally spurring sectoral cooperation, to ensure the physical integration of the Associated States into the EU, the statement read.

Great talks w/ @EUCouncil President @CharlesMichel in the frames of #AssociatedTrio format. Adherence to shared European values remains at the core of our ??integration. Grateful for EU firm support for sovereignty & territorial integrity of our states. pic.twitter.com/FRbhJb12Uh

— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) November 30, 2021