Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili is in Lisbon, Portugal, where he has attended a convention of the European People's Party. In an address at the event, the president noted that integration with the European Union and NATO were among Georgia's top priorities. He said that the country was pinning great hopes on the upcoming NATO summit in Bucharest in April 2008 and that he expected a major decision on Georgia's prospects for integration with NATO to be taken at the summit.

After the conference, Saakashvili held a joint news conference with the party's president, Belgian Prime Minister Wilfried Martens.

"If Georgia receives major international support...the process of its integration with NATO will effectively become irreversible. This will be a real revolution in our geopolitical situation," Saakashvili said at the briefing.

Martens noted that Georgia was a European country whose place was in the great European house. "The countries of Europe must do all they can to help Tbilisi on its path towards integration with NATO and other European structures," he said.

Members of the Georgian delegation accompanying the president to Lisbon positively evaluated the visit, saying that the support of European countries would play a decisive role in Georgia's taking another important step towards NATO.

Communications Office
of the President of Georgia