Georgia and the United Kingdom have signed a Strategic Partnership Agreement.

Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and UK Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab signed the “Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Cooperation between Georgia and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland” in London on October 21, 2019.

The Agreement will replace the EU-Georgia Association Agreement in bilateral UK-Georgia relations after Brexit. The document covers a wide range of issues, creates the legal framework for strategic partnership, and ensures that the free trade regime between Georgia and the UK is preserved.

The Agreement covers various issues of cooperation, including: foreign and security policies, respect for the principles of international law, support for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. economic cooperation, transport and energy, environmental protection and climate change, innovation, tourism and agriculture, social policy and healthcare, education, culture, regional cooperation, etc.

The agreement ensures free trade between Georgia and the EU, as it duplicates the provisions of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area – DCFTA.

The Agreement recognizes Georgia’s progress on its European and Euro-Atlantic integration path, as well as its European choice; supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders; highlights the importance of peaceful resolution of the Georgia-Russia conflict, of safe and dignified return of refugees and reconciliation of the communities torn apart by the war. The Parties undertake to extend the benefits of this Agreement to all citizens of Georgia, including to the conflict-affected population.

The Agreement will provisionally come into force after Brexit, and will fully apply after both parties ratify it.