Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the Riigikogu (Parliament of Estonia) Keit Pentus-Rosimannus, who represented Estonia at the discussions of the Parliament and the National Security Council of Georgia, thinks that among the Eastern Partnership countries, Georgia has made the most progress towards Europe thanks to conducting reforms. She also emphasises that it is necessary to continue with the reforms.

“It is important to not to get tired of reforms,” Pentus-Rosimannus said after the discussions. “The people of Georgia have done a great job in building up their state, in spite of the fact that a part of the territory of the country is occupied by Putin’s regime.”

In the opinion of Pentus-Rosimannus, the Georgians are a tough nation that is not broken easily. “Georgia has had to fight against the Russian Federation’s creeping annexation in occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and resist constant influencing activities elsewhere in the territory of the country. On that basis, it has been possible for them to develop the same kind of expertise and skills as Estonia developed after the cyber attacks of 2007. The need to fight against such methods of hybrid warfare unfortunately does not decrease in the world, but increases,” Pentus-Rosimannus said.  

The Deputy Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee added that Estonia had shared its experience with Georgia at both governmental and parliamentary level, and was ready to continue it. “The speed of reforms has made Georgia an Eastern Partnership country that has reached the closest to the European Union, but there is still a long way to go,” she said. There is also room for development in the cooperation within the country, where the institutions often tend to act on their own and in their own interests, not thinking of the larger picture. We in Estonia have also passed that stage.”

“In a long-term perspective, the Eastern Partnership countries, like the Balkan countries, are as important for the EU as the EU is to those countries,” Pentus-Rosimannus said at the inter-parliamentary meeting where the Eastern Partnership Summit was analysed. In her opinion, it is hard to imagine a stable and successful European Union without stable and successful Eastern Partnership or West Balkan countries in its neighbourhood. To illustrate this, she pointed out the tackling of migration crisis, which requires smooth cooperation.

At the meeting where the Eastern Partnership Summit was discussed, Pentus-Rosimannus said that not underestimating the importance of the declaration, what took place between the summits was also important. “The Summit helps keep the Eastern Partnership in focus, but moving on at good speed should also take place between the summits,” she emphasised.

In Tbilisi, Pentus-Rosimannus participated in the discussion on the Eastern Partnership Summit on 3–5 December, an international parliamentary conference, and the strategic discussion organised by the National Security Council of Georgia. Other Eastern Partnership countries besides Georgia are Ukraine, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Belarus.

Riigikogu Press Service
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