Tbilisi should restart talks with the population of its former republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, European Union's foreign policy chief said ahead of her first visit to Georgia on Thursday.
"We encourage Georgia to reengage with the populations in the conflict regions in accordance with its recently adopted Action Plan, in the interest of people affected," EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton said.
The EU official added that Europe "will remain fully engaged in conflict resolution efforts employing a wide spectrum of its instruments."
She also reiterated support for Georgia's territorial integrity and hailed the country's "commitment to solving conflicts only through peaceful means and diplomatic efforts."
Ashton will start her two-day trip to Georgia on Thursday. She will visit the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) and meet with the country's top officials, including President Mikheil Saakashvili and Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze.
She will also launch the negotiations for an EU-Georgia Association Agreement, a document to replace the existing Partnership and Cooperation deal, in Batumi on Thursday. The talks will be conducted by deputy chief of the European Commission's external relations directorate, Hugues Mingarelli and Georgian deputy foreign minister, Tornike Gordadze.
The document "provides for the strengthening of relations between Georgia and the European Union in priority fields," the Georgian foreign ministry said on its website.
It "will give Georgia the possibility of political association and phased economic integration with the European Union," the ministry said.
On Saturday Ashton will then travel to Kazakhstan, the current chair of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), to attend an informal meeting of OSCE foreign ministers in Almaty.
BRUSSELS, July 15 (RIA Novosti)
