“You all have a very busy year ahead as you work to fulfill necessary steps to advance Georgia’s Euro Atlantic path and also as you prepare for elections,” said US Ambassador to Georgia, Robin Dunnigan addressing the meeting of the Georgian parliamentary Foreign Relations Committee.

“Last Friday, I had the opportunity to discuss the bonds that underpin our relationship in my first meeting with the Prime Minister and his new capacity. It was a very positive and productive meeting. I reiterated to the Prime Minister my commitment to deepen our strategic partnership, and I outlined my top priorities as ambassador, including supporting Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory, increasing our bilateral trade and investment, including by supporting the middle corridor, continuing to strengthen our military partnership, which is the cornerstone of our relationship, and also strengthening our cultural ties,” she said.

According to the US Ambassador, the US supports Georgia in its transition period to becoming an EU member.

“Georgia receiving EU candidate status this past December was a tremendous step forward. Once again, congratulations! We want Georgia to be a member of the EU. I know many of you in this room worked very, very hard toward achieving this milestone, and I know that you will be working hard in the months and years ahead on the legislation and other work necessary to fulfill the nine steps. The United States is now and will continue to support you in these efforts. We hope that you will also work closely with civil society organizations and all segments of society to advance the process. Ultimately, it will take consensus and unity within Georgian society to achieve EU membership.

One of the first things I did after I arrived in Georgia was to travel the other way again and go to Brussels to speak to the European Union about Georgia’s candidacy and how the United States can best health. We are now working daily with the EU, Georgia, and others to see how our assistants can best support the work you are doing to fulfill the nine steps. I was so glad to see that the Prime Minister’s first trip was to Brussels to meet with EU officials to discuss Georgia’s candidacy. I was also happy to see the Prime Minister meet with NATO ambassadors and reaffirm Georgia’s NATO aspirations, which we also very strongly support. So you all have a very busy year ahead as you work to fulfill necessary steps to advance Georgia’s Euro Atlantic path and also as you prepare for elections. ” she said.

I’ve spoken to several of you personally about elections, and I know you share our view that free and fair elections are the cornerstone of democracy. The United States will continue to work with all sides, all of you in parliament, government, civil society, opposition parties, and especially with the Central Election Commission, to ensure that Georgians know that their votes are counted fairly, their vote is secret, and the process is free and fair,” she said.