EU urges Georgian authorities to seek more pragmatic ways to resolve conflicts

Meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Vano Merabishvili, President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy urged the Georgian authorities to find more "pragmatic and constructive" ways to contribute to the settlement of the conflict with its separatist regions, Trend reports.

"The EU and Georgia have common interests that these closed societies open to modernization and development," he said. "Benefits received from closeness to the EU - high standards, free trade, investment and visa liberalization - should be available to the whole society, including to the populations divided by conflict."

Van Rompuy also noted the "impressive" reforms carried out in Georgia with EU support, as a result of which "more effective institutions have been created and services for citizens improved."

He said that, in view of the developed approach to Eastern partners "more in return for the most" (the more reforms a country implements, the more help it will receive from the EU), the EU has recently allocated an additional 22 million euros to Georgia.