You're reading: Estonia backs Georgian integration with EU and NATO

Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves has reiterated his country's support for Georgia's plans of integration into the European Union and NATO.

“Estonia previously supported and continues to support democratic Georgia and your state’s plans to integrate into the European Union and NATO,” he said at a meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister Maja Panjikidze in Tallinn on Thursday.

The Estonian leader’s press service told Interfax Ilves said that “the degree of Georgia’s preparedness to join these organizations should be assessed based only on Georgia’s own achievements, and no one outside the European Union and NATO can influence these positions.”

“Estonia has consistently pursued its “open door” policy and has followed the principles that recognize each state’s sovereign right to make its own choice among organizations in which it wants to participate,” Ilves said.

“Last year’s parliamentary elections and civilized transfer of power reaffirmed Georgia’s commitment to democratic values,” the Estonian president said.

“However, what I said at a meeting with the then government and opposition in Tbilisi five years ago is still valid: Estonia and the European Union support Georgia’s reform drive, not concrete persons,” Ilves said.

Speaking about Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Ilves said that “Estonia has always supported the territorial integrity of Georgia.”

“Georgia’s political stability, economic growth and success in foreign affairs would offer the best guarantee of a solution to this complicated problem,” he said.