European Parliament to ratify AA with Georgia

/AzerNews/

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

The European Parliament will ratify the Association Agreement with Georgia this week.

The European Parliament published the agenda for its plenary session to be held on December 15-21. The timetable envisages a joint debate over Georgia, which includes talks over the "Conclusion of the Association Agreement with Georgia" on December 17.

The parliament also planned to adopt a resolution on Georgia, prepared according to a report by Andrejs Mamikins, Speaker of the Parliament.

The European Parliament’s Foreign Affairs Committee voted to consider the ratification of Georgia’s AA document and its adoption at the plenary session on December 17.

The resolution states that the European Parliament supports Georgia’s steps taken to regulate the relations with Russia, urging the northern giant to respect Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty and withdraw its recognition of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) as independent countries.

Moreover, the resolution said the European Parliament welcomed Georgia’s judicial reforms, saying that all three branches of power must be effectively separated, while all prosecutions must be transparent, proportionate and free from political motivation.

The Association Agreement deals were signed by Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova and EU representatives in Brussels on June 27, 2014.

The document includes the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area for gradual approximation of these three countries to the EU and preparation for potential membership in the union in future.

Georgia attaches vital attention and importance to the integration into the European Union.