Georgia, Tbilisi, March 3 / Trend N.Kirtzkhalia /
Budapest hosted the Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) meeting scheduled. The delegations of the Eastern Partnership program partner-states- Georgia, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova and Armenia, as well as the foreign ministers of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Spain and Belgium, were also invited to the event
Georgian Vice Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze and Deputy State Minister for Eurointegration Tamara Beruchashvili will represent Georgia at the meeting, the vice prime minister's apparatus told Trend .
The meeting discussed issues of cooperation between the aforementioned countries and EU.
The Georgian delegation focused attention on the Georgia-Russia conflict, placement of additional military forces in the occupied areas of Georgia, construction of new military bases and a gross violation of human population in the occupied territories. The country's delegation also stressed the importance of EU's participation in the settlement of the Georgia-Russia conflict.
The meeting touched on important issues of the Georgia-EU cooperation, such as the simplification of visa regime for Georgian citizens in EU countries and introduction of visa-free regime in the future, importance of beginning negotiations to sign the agreement on a comprehensive free trade and association to EU, which will assist in attracting additional investment in the country and creating new jobs.
The Foreign Ministers' meeting noted that the initiative of the Eastern Partnership should increasingly provide for the settlement of conflicts and promote energy security. It was also stressed that the implementation of cooperation in this format and the implementation of priority projects of the EU should increase funding that will enhance cooperation between the countries of Eastern Europe, as well as stability in the region as a whole, the development of democracy and to maximize the convergence of the partner countries with the EU.
All speakers noted that cooperation in this format is effective in terms of convergence and this must be continued.
Baramidze held bilateral meetings with European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy, Stefan Fule, representatives of the Hungarian Parliament and the Foreign Ministers of Poland, Ukraine, Hungary and Belarus, as well as media outlets.
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