FM: Bulgaria Strongly Supports Georgia's EU Bid

Georgia is firmly on track with progress towards EU membership, stated Bulgarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Nikolay Mladenov in Tbilisi Thursday.

Mladenov is in Georgia together with counterparts from Poland and Sweden, Jacek Mihailovsky and Carl Bildt, as part of a South Caucasus tour of the thee EU ministers.

"After successful elections early October, no Georgia must consolidate democratic institutions and maintain the rule of law," said Mladenov.

"I am happy that we heard from everyone we met that the goals of getting closer to the EU and NATO are a matter of consensus for Georgian society," added he.

Mladenov further underscored that the fairness and due work of Georgian judiciary is of key importance for the country's EU integration.

The Bulgarian Foreign Affairs Minister also said his country is supportive of Georgia's efforts to find a "constructive decision for the occupied territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia," and to normalize relations with Russia.

Mladenov recalled that Bulgaria is Georgia's neighbor via the Black Sea, and is the country's second-largest trade partner within the EU, and stated that those facts need to be built upon.

Thursday Mladenov, Miahilovsky and Bildt met Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, and Defense Minister Irakli Alasania, and are set to talk to other senior Georgian statespersons.

Wednesday the EU diplomatic delegation was in Azerbaijan.

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