Azernews.Az

By Jamila Babayeva

The government of Georgia is future-oriented and this government will lead Georgia in the right direction.

The U.S Secretary of State John Kerry made a remark at a meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Washington at a plenary session under the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Charter.

Kerry recommended that Georgia intensify the dialogue in the country before the elections and said this will strengthen the country.

"After the elections I am very glad to see you here," Kerry said. "We are meeting in the hall where there are portraits of Franklin. He was one of the first ambassadors in relations with other nations and the father of diplomatic relations. The reason that he remains a well-liked man is his openness, and we naturally want to see the same spirit in relations with Georgia."

He noted that Georgia and the U.S. celebrate the 20th anniversary of the establishment of relations that are moving forward.

"We have progress, but we want to start to build on this progress and this is what we talked about. Firstly I want to congratulate you with independent democratic and free presidential elections," Kerry said. "The openness of the process was obvious, and it should be applauded. You talked about many achievements, among them there is need to pay attention to the upcoming election. We urge all parties to continue the dialogue and debates in Georgia. This is very important for Georgia, it will further strengthen the country."

Garibashvili in turn stressed that Georgia appreciates the willingness of the U.S. to help the country in fulfilling its obligations under the association agreement. He also thanked the U.S. secretary of state for the clear position on the process of 'borderization' and expressed hope that the support on this issue will continue.

Garibashvili stressed that the democratic development in Georgia, its European and Euro-Atlantic choice will not be revised and the intensification of the strategic partnership with the U.S. will be one of the most important foreign policy priorities of Georgia.

It was announced at the meeting that the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry will visit Georgia in spring.