The Georgian capital of Tbilisi is hosting the 8th Ordinary Session of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly on December 8-10. Energy security, EU-Eastern relations and geopolitical challenges are set to be among the focus points of the 8th session of the joint parliamentary assembly.

#EURONEST PARLIAMENTARY ASSEMBLY – discussing progress in the process of the implementation of the #Association Agreements in Georgia, Ukraine, Moldova pic.twitter.com/4bdEOS5UIH

— David Bujiashvili (@dbujiashvili3) December 8, 2019

As the member of European Parliament, Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius said Georgia is among front-runner countries.

In 2019, the Eastern Partnership celebrates its 10-year anniversary. Plenty of work has already fulfiled. There are front-runner countries, such as Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova, which have The Association Agreement (“AA”) and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (“DCFTA”). However, there are three other countries with specific development. We will discuss what kind of strategy the Eastern Partnership policy should have over the next 10 years, member of European Parliament, Prime Minister of Lithuania Andrius Kubilius stressed.

As for the political dialogue between the opposition and the ruling party, Andrius Kubilius said that the negotiation was reasonably successful on Sunday. Prime Minister of Lithuania believes the proportional system can bring more balanced election results.

As I understand, there is an agreement for the continuing dialogue. Particularly, on how to modernize the electoral system.

I call on government for more proportionality, which can bring more balanced results after next year’s elections, which will be very important.

Every Eastern Partnership country should think about it because in regarding recent developments in Eastern Partnership countries, we can see a certain phenomenon that we can call an attempt to form a mono-majority, super-majority. On the one hand, this helps to carry out some reforms, but on the other hand, in case of such a majority, there is a temptation to use it for undemocratic purposes, Andrius Kubilius said.

The Assembly is comprised of 60 MEPs and 10 members from each of the participating parliaments of the Eastern European partners (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine).

The meetings will be co-chaired by MEP Andrius Kubilius (EPP, LT) and Ivan Krulko, member of the Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament).

European Parliament President David Sassoli will be represented in Tbilisi by Vice-President Klara Dobrev.

Participants will adopt resolutions on political affairs, economic integration, energy security and social matters. As 2019 marks the 10th anniversary of the Eastern Partnership, members will also reflect on the future of this policy, in the run-up to the next Eastern Partnership Summit scheduled to take place in the spring of 2020.

?????????????? Eighth Ordinary Session of the #EuronestParliamentaryAssembly: the future of relations with Eastern partners
Formal opening by the Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia H.E. #ArchilTALAKVADZE #EuroNestPaTbilisi2019 @GeoParliament https://t.co/8jVXRC1wko pic.twitter.com/IxKDcoZNfi

— Geoparliament (@Geoparliament) December 9, 2019

The Euronest PA was established on 3 May 2011 in Brussels, when the Presidents (or their representatives) of the Armenian, Azerbaijani, Georgian, Moldovan, Ukrainian and European Parliaments signed the Assembly’s Constitutive Act.

The mission of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly is to promote the conditions necessary to accelerate political association and further economic integration between the EU and the Eastern European Partners, as well as to strengthen cooperation within the region and between the region and the EU.