Niall Collins (Limerick County, Fianna Fail)
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149. To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade the efforts being made at EU level to protect the territorial integrity of Georgia; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [46969/18]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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Ireland, together with the EU, continues to reaffirm its unwavering support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognised borders, as and when the opportunity presents itself across all local, EU and International platforms.

Central to this support is the Eastern Partnership Initiative, which provides a framework for cooperation between the EU and six countries in the EU’s Eastern Neighbourhood, including Georgia. The aims of the Eastern Partnership are to promote peace and stability in the region and to enhance economic and political integration between the participating countries and the EU. The model of cooperation with each of the participating states has been tailored to meet their needs and priorities and those of the EU.

At the fifth Eastern Partnership Summit in Brussels in November 2017 a revised Eastern Partnership multilateral architecture was adopted to contribute to the goals of the partnership, particularly by supporting the implementation of the “20 Deliverables for 2020" which sets the future priorities for the initiative. This roadmap identifies a range of short and long-term milestones aimed at developing a stronger economy, governance, connectivity and society to make tangible and pragmatic improvements to the lives of citizens in partner countries. A Ministerial meeting last month, which I attend, provided an opportunity for progress to be reviewed and for re-commitment to the objectives of the partnership.

The EU remains committed to its political association and economic integration with Georgia and the successful implementation of the Association Agreement, including its Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area, which entered into force in July 2016.

The EU has praised Georgia's reform efforts while underlining the need to ensure the sustainability of the changes which have already taken place including on democratic development and fundamental freedoms, on constitutional and parliamentary reform, and anti-corruption reforms.

Georgia’s new peace initiative, which the EU has fully supported, ‘A Step to a Better Future’ is aimed at improving the humanitarian and socio-economic conditions of people residing in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali region/South Ossetia, and at fostering people-to-people contacts, confidence building and reconciliation among the divided communities.

In addition, the appointment last year of a new EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and the crisis in Georgia, as well as the EU Monitoring Mission, in which Ireland has representatives, are visible and substantial signs of the Union's commitment to helping Georgia address its security challenges.