Azernews.Az

European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton is beginning a trip to Georgia and Central Asia, Radio Liberty reported.

She's scheduled to hold meetings in Georgia on November 26, before visiting Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan.

Ashton told Radio Liberty that in Tbilisi she plans to urge all Georgian parties to seek common ground following the country's October parliamentary elections.

She said: "I will say to President Saakashvili that he has his legacy already in Georgia in a sense, that it is important that he continue to work closely with the new government, important that he continue to push forward for Georgia on the things he believes in, especially, of course, the relationship with the European Union, which is, I think, of great significance for Georgia and of great importance to us."

In Central Asia, she said she plans to voice support for "civil society [and] the movement forward for these countries economically."

"Part of the reason for me to meet the ministers is to be able to try and work through with them what ways and in which areas [we can] be most successful in our collaboration," Ashton said.

"We are doing quite a lot of work on border issues, for example. I want to do more work on education. We want to try and support civil society [and] the movement forward for these countries economically. And we need to make sure that we've got in place the measures, the relationships, and the resources to be able to do that."

It will be Ashton's first major tour to Central Asia as EU high representative for foreign policy and security.