President Mikheil Saakashvili left for Ukraine on November 30 to participate in the first summit of the Community of Democratic Choice in Kyiv.
Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, Ukrainian President Victor Yushchenko, Latvian President Vaira Vike-Freiberga, Lithuanian President Valdas Adamkus, Estonian President Arnold Ruutel, Romanian President Traian Basescu, Slovenian President Janez Drnovsek, Macedonian President Branko Crvenkovski and Moldovian President Vladimir Voronin are participating in the summit.
The Vice-President of Bulgaria, Speaker of the Senate of Poland, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Azerbaijan, State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Hungary, US Under Secretary of State Paula Dobriansky, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic, as well as officials from Turkey and Armenia and representatives from the UN, OSCE, Council of Europe and Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization [BSEC] will also participate in the two-day forum.
President Saakashvili is accompanied by Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Giorgi Baramidze.
The Community of Democratic Choice (CDC) is the proposed result of a joint declaration signed by the Georgian and Ukrainian Presidents in Borjomi on August 12, 2005. The issues of institutionalization of the CDC, regional cooperation, and integration of countries including Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova into the Euro-Atlantic sphere will be discussed at the summit. Some influential Russian experts see the ongoing summit in Kyiv as an attempt by the Presidents of Georgia and Ukraine to create an alliance against Russia.
Alongside this forum a Ukraine-EU Summit is taking place in Kyiv with the participation of President of the EU and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, President of the European Commission Jos Manuel Barroso, and Secretary-General of the Council of the European Union Javier Solana. It has been decided that Ukraine will be recognized as a "market economy". Also being negotiated are facilitating a relaxed visa regime for the citizens of Ukraine, readmitting illegal emigrants, exchanging secret information and creating a free trade space.
Communications Office
of the President of Georgia