GEORGIA BECOMES MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL OF EUROPE: NOW THE APPLICATION OF THE EU MEMBERSHIP SHOULD FOLLOW

Rome, 27 March 1999. On 25 March Georgia became the 41st Member State of the Council of Europe. Following the positive decision adopted by the European Parliament last January, the Commmittee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has invited yesterday Georgia to join the Council completing a process started in July 1996.

Statement by Olivier Dupuis, Secretary of the Radical Party and vice-Chair of the Transcaucasian delegation of the European Parliament:

"The Ministers' decision to welcome Georgia to the Council of Europe is an important one. Firstly because it affirms Georgia's position as a European country, secondly because it will speed up the Georgian application to the European Union. A strategic political choice for a country that is firmly committed to the process of reinforcement of its democratic insitutions and its economic development as well as for the Union itself that should maintain its interests in Centrail Asia taking advantage of the Georgian thourough commitment."

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