TBILISI, Georgia, March 4 (UPI) -- The European Union, in light of developments in Ukraine, said it's vital that the nation of Georgia realizes the benefits of EU association as soon as possible.
European Neighborhood Policy Commissioner Stefan Fule said Tuesday his talks with officials in Georgia, a former Soviet Republic, were centered on an association agreement endorsed in November. He said recent talks with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili addressed "how to ensure that the benefits of this ambitious agreement are felt by Georgian citizens as soon as possible."
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili vowed to move Georgia closer to the European Union when he took office last year.
Fule said recent actions taken by the Russian military in Crimea, a Ukrainian peninsula, were reminiscent of past Georgian conflicts with the breakaway republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
"The EU will stand firmly by Georgia should it too come under pressure ahead of the planned signature of the association agreement," he said in a statement.
Georgia and Russia fought briefly in 2008 over the two republics.
Fule signed two finance agreements for $28.9 million to support good governance in Georgia. The funding, he said from Tbilisi, will promote transparency and the effectiveness of government spending.
