Zourabichvili hopes for aid of France, Germany in accelerating Georgia - EU rapprochement

TBILISI - Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, who is visiting Germany, hopes for France's and Germany's support for speeding up the rapprochement between Georgia and the European Union.

"Germany and France are a driving engine of Europe and the European Union today," and accelerating the rapprochement between Georgia and the European Union depends on them, Zourabichvili said at a joint press conference with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier on Wednesday.

As to bilateral relations with Germany, the Georgian President said that she hopes for enhancing economic ties. "We hope that economic relations will boost further, and more German companies will come to Georgia, and there will be more investment and more cooperation," Zourabichvili said.

The Georgian President, in turn, stressed the need of taking efforts to bring Georgia and the European Union even closer in various areas. "Now, we should try to bring Georgia and the EU even closer in various areas, in the infrastructure, culture, economy and so on and so forth," she said.

Georgian television channels quote the two presidents' statements on Wednesday.