Polish FM discusses Georgia's EU candidate status in Tbilisi

TBILISI. April 27 (Interfax) - Polish Foreign Minister Zbigniew Rau met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and his Georgian counterpart, Ilia Darchiashvili, in Tbilisi on Thursday.

After the meeting with Rau, the Georgian foreign minister the meeting focused on giving EU candidate status to Georgia. Tbilisi is hoping to receive this status by the end of the year.

This is a vital issue for Georgia, Darchiashvili said at a joint press briefing with Rau.

Darchiashvili said he had briefed Rau on Georgia's progress in fulfilling the 12 recommendations of the European Commission which gaining candidate status depends on. He also said that most recommendations had already been met.

"We are continuing our active work on achieving these priorities so that Georgia receives candidate status, which is of great importance to us, by the end of the year. I emphasized that, while meeting specific conditions for admission to the European Union, we are continuing with the process of broad political, economic and sectoral integration with the EU in both institutional and legislative dimensions," Darchiashvili said.

The situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia was another item on the agenda, he said.

"We highly appreciate Poland's staunch support for our country in matters of territorial integrity and sovereignty, which is one of the most sensitive issues in our foreign policy," Darchiashvili said.

The two sides also touched on the situation in Ukraine at the meeting, he said.

In turn, the press service for the Georgian prime minister said that Garibashvili and Rau addressed bilateral trade and economic cooperation at the meeting on Thursday.

"The meeting's participants underscored the importance of Poland's resolute support for Georgian membership of the European Union. Irakli Garibashvili said that Georgia welcomes Polish statements supporting Georgia's candidate status in every possible format," the press service said.