TBILISI (Sputnik) — According to the former prime minister, rapprochement with the West does not mean alienating from close neighbors.
"Georgian bid for EU-membership is not on the short-term agenda," he wrote in an open letter to his party Georgian Dream adding that Tbilisi would go a long way to get a seat in the European military and economic blocs.
Relations between Brussels and Tbilisi are determined by the association agreement signed in 2014. In March, the European Commission proposed to lift visa regime for Georgian citizens.
In 2008, Georgia applied for membership in NATO. Since then a NATO commission has monitored Tbilisi's progress in matching the standards of the military bloc. Georgian membership in the alliance will be addressed at the NATO June summit in Warsaw.