Sweden back Georgia's reforms and EU hopes

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Grigol Vashadze met his Swedish counterpart Carl Bildt in the frames of his working visit to the Kingdom of Sweden on May 16-17. Topical issues on the agenda were Georgia-EU relations, the current situation in Georgia’s occupied territories and developments in the South Caucasus.

The Georgian Minister reported the details of the terror attacks, which Russia tried to carry out in Georgia and which were controlled by federal forces located in the occupied areas. “The situation in the occupied territories, those terrorist acts, which the Russian Federation was plotting and implementing on the Georgian territory, human rights abuses which represent daily practice in the occupied territories were discussed during the meeting”, Vashadze stated.

The two sides also discussed the major issues of bilateral and multilateral co-operation between Georgia and Sweden, as well as the possibilities of co-operation within the framework of international organizations. Special attention was paid to the prioritized areas of Georgia-EU co-operation, to progress achieved in the negotiations over the Association Agreement, the possibility of the further liberalization of the visa regime for Georgia and the Eastern Partnership Summit in Warsaw.

Praising Georgian reforms, the Swedish Minister spoke of Georgia as an exemplary country in terms of its reform making policy. Welcoming Georgia’s aspirations to enter the EU Bildt expressed the full support of Sweden towards the democratic reforms in Georgia as the basis for integration into the European society.