FM: South Caucasus vital for EU security and prosperity

Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Maka Botchorishvili, spoke on Rustavi 2 TV program about the growing importance of the European Union’s relations with the South Caucasus. She noted that the EU’s vision toward the region has recently undergone a significant transformation and is now viewed from a new perspective.

The minister emphasized that, in this new reality, both the quality and intensity of relations with the three South Caucasus countries—Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan—are increasing substantially. According to her, cooperation with the region is entering a new phase, becoming more complex and strategically important.

“It can be said that the South Caucasus and relations with the region are being given new meaning. It is becoming increasingly clear how important this region is for the European Union. Whereas previously the EU’s policy toward the South Caucasus was shaped from a different perspective, today it is evident that this is a region the European Union itself vitally needs for its own security and prosperity. In this context, relations with Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan are acquiring a completely different significance. I hope that the approaches the European Union adopts toward the countries of the South Caucasus will be more realistic,” the Foreign Minister stated.