Ukraine and Georgia to pull together for EU and NATO membership
Ukraine and Georgia should unite their efforts to achieve joint goals: membership in the European Union and NATO, said Irakli Kobakhidze, the Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament, Interfax-Ukraine reports.
"Our states have common challenges, and therefore we should unite our efforts to respond to them and achieve our goals... Our main goal is full membership in the European Union and NATO. In this context, it is very important to pool our efforts so that it does happen," Kobakhidze stated at a joint briefing with the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada, Andriy Parubiy in Kyiv on January 17.
In turn, the Ukrainian Parliament speaker expressed his belief that this goal would be ultimately achieved. "I am sure that it is only a matter of time before Ukraine and Georgia become members of the EU and NATO," Parubiy said.
Kobakhidze noted the common challenge of Russian aggression for both Ukraine and Georgia. "Our common challenges are also the occupation of our territories and the aggression of the Russian Federation. And the cooperation between our states is very important in this connection," the Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament said.
Kobakhidze stressed that Georgia strongly condemns the annexation of the Crimea and Russia's aggressive actions in the Donbas.
Towards the end of 2017, Ukraine's President Petro Poroshenko pledged to hold referendums on the EU and NATO memberships. According to him, the plebiscites would be held "in the foreseeable future."