New Group of Friends Supports Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic Aspirations

The New Group of Friends of Georgia, comprising Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria and the Czech Republic, have expressed support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported.

A declaration of support was adopted during a meeting of the New Group of Friends in Vilnius on September 13-14. Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus Peter Semneby also attended the meeting.

The declaration stresses that the security, stability and territorial integrity of Georgia is fundamental to European security, while stronger cooperation between Georgia, the EU and NATO would positively contribute to the stability and security of the region and “to better relations between Georgia and Russia.”

“The EU has interests in Georgia and we will pursue them; and we warn against provocations of all sorts in the South Caucasus,” the declaration reads.

The New Group of Friends also pledged to support Georgian efforts to conclude visa facilitation and free trade agreements with the EU.

The group also made note that Georgia is prepared for a Membership Action Plan (MAP) and emphasised “the urgency regarding the MAP debate for Georgia.”

The group also said that “no country outside NATO has a veto right on the decisions of the Alliance.”

The New Group of Friends was established in February 2005 on the initiative of Georgia.

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