The President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy:

It was my pleasure ladies and gentlemen to welcome today again the President of Georgia Mr. Saakashvili.

I welcome the way the parliamentary elections were conducted in Georgia and underline the strong desire of European Union  to work effectively and intensively with the both the Presidency  and new government of Georgia on our broad shared agenda.

I expressed my hope that the President would continue to work effectively with the government during a period of cohabitation.  I also underline the valuable role which can be played in Georgia’s development by constructive parliamentary opposition.

I reminded the President on the European Union’s ongoing commitment to achieve political association and economic integration with Georgia and more specifically our attention to complete as soon as possible the negotiations on the association agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade area which you launched several years ago.

I also spoke of our attachment to progress in the visa dialogue in which we are engaged given a wide importance of improved people to people contacts between Georgians and European citizens.

I recalled the importance that European Union attaches to the correct functioning of democratic institutions and respect of the rule of law. I reiterated the European Union’s unwavering commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity.

Through Geneva international discussions and EU monitoring mission, the European Union acts as the guarantor of Georgia’s security.

We take this responsibility very seriously and at the same time we expect Georgia to play its own part.

Finally, both President Saakashvili and I agreed on the critical and positive role which Georgia can continue to play within the eastern partnership. I reiterated the long term engagement of the European Union, to support reform process in Georgia and our permanent commitment to dialogue with the opposition civil society representatives as well as the government.

Thank you so much for your visit Mr. President.

The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili:

Thank you Mr. President, again I am very thrilled to meet you here. It so happened that by coincidence the Prime Minister and I were in town at same time, that really shows that there is a need to cooperate, because we talk very much about the same issues and these issues, they are not party issues, they are not issues of internal differences or internal confrontation.

On the contrary, they are the basis for this common thing that we should find among all political forces in Georgia, on bringing Georgia to Europe.

Georgians are not only Europeans, they are enthusiastic  Europeans, so the progress we are achieving on visa dialogue, association on  free trade DCFTA, all the difficult technical stuff that we did, we need to get continuity on that and bring the new government’s awareness  of all the developments as we are doing.

We are trying to help them bring Georgia closer to the European institutions, and from that point of view I think your personal contribution is absolutely immense.

You have visited us during the election campaign, you are very vocal in supporting Georgia’s integrity in different international forums, which we strongly appreciate, and again we are committed to continue, me as president for the conclusive year of my term, as well as the National Security Council, as well as other government services, Parliamentary groups in Georgia, we are all in this business for the long run. For us it’s not a tactical thing, it’s a matter of our strategy, of who we are, as a nation and as politicians.

I would like to express with President Rompuy great satisfaction regarding the fact that we have reached progress in terms of visa simplification for Georgia, so that it is simple for Georgians to travel around Europe with ordinary passports visa free, and this is achievable in the nearest future. It is also achievable in terms of association agreement and free trade. We have left all of this to the new government…basically very hard technical work of many years, which is very important to continue. This is not a partisan issue and we do not even argue about the fact that Georgia is aspiring towards Europe. This is why we must stand above any type of partisanship and continue achieved progress. The goal of the last year of my presidency will be taking Georgia to a new step in terms of European integration, which means free trade, dialogues, visa simplification and a visa free regime for Georgians, association agreement and fast appearance of EU membership prospects for Georgia. We are already at a stage where we can not only get close to the EU, but become part of it in case we do not give in to internal confrontations. This is a historic challenge and a chance for our people. We cannot lose a single day. We must now hold hands despite our political party affiliation, whether we agree or not, and take Georgia in this direction. This road has no alternative for the multiethnic society of Georgia. I think we have a strong ally in Brussels in this sense.

We arrive here in order to use our contacts, my contacts, especially with the leadership, so that we do not lose a single day in taking Georgia in this direction.

If we act well and together and stand above partisan logic and bickering, we will definitely advance Georgia and integrate it in every European structure.

Thank you.