BEZHUASHVILI OUTLINES TBILISI’S ENP AGENDA
By Christina Tashkevich in Brussels
Messenger.ge, Georgia
Monday, September 10, 2007, #171 (1438)
Tbilisi has a pragmatic agenda for EU cooperation, said Georgia’s
foreign minister after a September 3 conference in Brussels.
The conference, the first to bring together EU members with
participant countries in the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP)
revealed divergent opinions on whether the ENP is meant as a stepping
stone to EU membership.
European Commissioner for External Relations and European Neighborhood
Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner emphasized that the ENP was not designed
as a step towards EU inclusion, but acknowledged the political
possibilities of pacts with nations on the EU’s geographic doorstep.
"The neighborhood policy is not for membership, but at the same time,
the future is not prejudged," she said at the conference.
Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bezhuashvili said that
Tbilisi, for its part, would work to cooperate with the EU rather than
"bang on its doors" for membership.
"The EU noted that Georgia has a pragmatic and realistic agenda…we
say, let’s cooperate on concrete things," he told the Messenger after
the conference.
Georgia’s pragmatic agenda, Bezhuashvili detailed, includes eliminating
trade barriers and enacting smoother visa procedures.
That falls in line with what Ferrero-Waldner says the EU wants to
cooperate on with ENP countries. Economic integration and streamlined
visa procedures are top priorities, she told the conference.
The EU’s ENP commissioner also spoke about energy security, broaching
the possibility of a "neighborhood energy agreement" within the ENP.
Bezhuashvili says Georgia is already doing its part to shore up
Europe’s energy security, but could contribute even more.
"We propose the EU use GUAM [the regional alliance of Georgia, Ukraine,
Azerbaijan and Moldova] more actively as well as Georgia-Azerbaijan
cooperation in energy issues," the Georgian foreign minister said.
The ENP includes most of Georgia’s neighbors and regional
allies. Azerbaijan, Moldova, Armenia, Ukraine and Belarus are all
part of the EU’s formalized neighborhood policy.