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Over the past year, Georgia has achieved significant progress in relations with the European Union and the EU is ready to help to strengthen them further, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevičius said on behalf of the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton at the meeting of the EU-Georgia Cooperation Council on 12 December.

Since the last Council meeting a year ago, Georgia has established itself as a leader of the Eastern Partnership countries. The Vilnius Summit marked a great success in the EU-Georgia relations. However, this is only the beginning of a long road. That is why together with you we seek to set priorities in our cooperative agenda for the future," Linas Linkevičius said.

The Minister reminded that the Action Plan on Visa Liberalization had been presented to Georgia in February and that progress had been achieved in its implementation; at the Vilnius Summit, Georgia and the EU initialled the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, and signed an agreement on cooperation in CSDP operations; an agreement allowing Georgia to participate in the EU programmes had been signed prior to the Cooperation Council meeting.

According to the Minister, progress in relations is also possible because of our common values, which are reflected in the region's first truly democratic transfer of power after the last year's parliamentary elections and the presidential elections in October.

"The European Union urged Georgia to continue to pay careful attention to defending political pluralism and media freedom, the hallmarks of a healthy democracy. We particularly emphasised the importance of ensuring that criminal prosecutions should be evidence-based, transparent, free of political motivation, impartial, and fully in line with democratic values," Linas Linkevičius said.

The meeting was attended by the Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili, and the Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy Štefan Füle.

When discussing the recent events related to the resolution of conflicts in Georgia, the Minister underlined that the EU supported further diplomatic contacts between Georgia and Russia as an important way of ensuring stability of the region.

"The European Union expresses concern at ongoing activities to erect physical barriers to free movement within Georgian territory. We welcome Georgia's constructive approach to engagement with Abkhazia and South Ossetia," Linas Linkevičius said.

The EU reiterated its support for Georgia's territorial integrity and measures of conflict resolution. The EU is a co-chair of the Geneva talks. The EU Monitoring Mission is established in Georgia.