Georgia’s PM: We seek to restore US strategic partnership with clean slate and concrete roadmap; recent developments sustain our optimism

“We wish to restore the strategic partnership with the United States with a clean slate and a concrete roadmap,” Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Kobakhidze announced during his annual report to Parliament.

The Prime Minister emphasised the crucial importance of reviving the strategic partnership with the US.

“Restoring our strategic partnership with the United States is of paramount importance to us. We have made numerous public statements to this effect, including myself personally. We wish to restore the strategic partnership with the United States with a clean slate and a concrete roadmap. Recent developments sustain our optimism that this strategic partnership will be restored.

I personally had a telephone call with Secretary of State Rubio, during which we had a very friendly and engaging conversation regarding bilateral cooperation. This was subsequently followed by a technical visit to Georgia by a delegation from the State Department. These processes keep us optimistic about the restoration of our strategic partnership with the United States,” Irakli Kobakhidze noted.

The Head of Government also turned his attention to relations with the European Union.

“As for relations with the European Union, this relationship remains full of challenges; however, we are doing everything in our power to properly fulfil our obligations under the Association Agreement and the DCFTA – the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area. Over the reporting period, we have achieved fundamental progress in this regard. Georgia has already fulfilled 80 per cent of its commitments to the European Union, including 81 per cent of the obligations directly arising from the Association Agreement. This demonstrates our approach to the matter. Despite unfair approaches and numerous challenges, we consistently continue to fulfil our commitments to the EU.

Furthermore, the non-recognition policy, which our country successfully implemented during the reporting period, remains highly significant. The success of this policy is reflected in the relevant figures, which remain completely stable. In tandem with this, we continue to pursue a pragmatic policy, and our objective, naturally, is the peaceful resolution of the conflict between Georgia and Russia. Our red line here is firmly tied to the restoration of our territorial integrity. Georgia will continue to act with a pragmatic policy in this direction in the future,” the Prime Minister stated.