President of Georgia thanked his Serbian counterpart, President Aleksandar Vučić, for his warm hospitality during a joint briefing in Belgrade. In his speech Mikheil Kavelashvili focused attention on relations with the European Union.

“I would like to thank Mr Aleksandar for inviting me to this magnificent country, which is so dear to us Georgians. I am delighted to be in Serbia today and very happy to have received such a warm welcome.

Our countries’ diplomatic relations have a history of thirty years, and it is noteworthy that this is my first visit at the presidential level. The relationship you mentioned should be further strengthened. You mentioned that a commission meeting on trade and economic matters is planned in the near future. I am sure, many important issues for both nations will be discussed. We also talked about cooperation in education, youth exchanges. Certainly, we must recognize experience both your country and ours have gained in relation to EU.

Both our society and the international community recognize that relations between Georgia and the EU are currently far from satisfactory, and I shall be frank, because we believe that the attitude often displayed by EU bureaucratic leaders towards our country is unjust. Double standards are frequently applied. This is not new to our friendly state, Serbia.

We are a peaceful nation. Almost every month, Georgia appears in international rankings for development, covering areas such as the economy, transparency, the judicial system, and more. Therefore, we hope that the EU bureaucracy will prove to be a just successor to that Europe of which the Serbian people are a part. Europe is an attractive region for all countries; its history provides the opportunity and expectation that there should be a different attitude.

Our desire to join the EU is fundamentally rooted in those just principles and values that have developed in Europe over the centuries. Therefore, we remain hopeful that these will ultimately be upheld, and that Europe, its people, will return to its core values and once again become a strong and attractive region.

That is why we are always ready to cooperate. Dialogue is one of the most important issues that must be conducted with the EU, for which we are always prepared. We have a fair attitude towards the EU and are always ready to be open so that there may be greater progress between ourselves and European countries”, - said Miheil Kavelashvili.