Brussels, 04/09/2012 (Agence Europe) - While the prime minister of Georgia, Ivane Merabishvili, was in Brussels on Monday 3 September, High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighbourhood Policy Stefan Füle called on the government and opposition in Georgia to ensure that the electoral process of the parliamentary elections planned for 1 October runs as well as possible.
“We call on both the government and the opposition to continue to ensure a peaceful, enabling and competitive electoral environment, and also a healthy media environment in this regard”, they said, adding that it is their responsibility to assure that the elections take place smoothly and legitimately. All the candidate parties should refrain “from actions and inflammatory statements that might further escalate an already tense environment and sow doubts about the results”, they added. Ashton and Füle, like the president of the European Council, Herman Van Rompuy, shared their concerns on the growing polarisation and tensions, and called for respect of electoral law. Ashton and Füle also spoke of the “expectations raised by the EU” for these elections and said that these elections “will prepare the ground for the quality and intensity” of relations between Georgia and the EU.
Progress in negotiations with the EU.
Ashton and Füle and Van Rompuy also spoke of Georgia's progress in the association agreement negotiations, including the deep and comprehensive free-trade area, and in the dialogue on visas. The objective is to present an action plan on the liberalisation of visas by the end of 2012 and to complete negotiations on the accession agreement in 2013.
The three politicians also called for better inclusion of marginalised peoples. They reminded their listeners of their support for the territorial integrity of Georgia. (CG/transl.fl)