On 21 October, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and his British counterpart Dominic Raab signed a new Strategic Partnership and Cooperation Agreement in London. It will come into play after Brexit takes places and will ensure free trade between Georgia and the UK after the country leaves the EU, making Georgia the first country from the Caucasus to conduct such an agreement, reported agenda.ge. 

The agreement “takes strategic cooperation between Georgia and the UK to a new level” and covers different fields of cooperation,” the Georgian foreign Ministry reports. The Agreement covers various issues of cooperation, including: foreign and security policies, respect for the principles of international law, support for the peaceful resolution of conflicts. economic cooperation, transport and energy, environmental protection and climate change, innovation, tourism and agriculture, social policy and healthcare, education, culture, regional cooperation, etc.

The Agreement recognizes Georgia’s progress on its European and Euro-Atlantic integration path, as well as its European choice; supports Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally recognized borders; highlights the importance of peaceful resolution of the Georgia-Russia conflict, of safe and dignified return of refugees and reconciliation of the communities torn apart by the war. The Parties undertake the process to extend the benefits of this Agreement to all citizens of Georgia, including to the conflict-affected population.

The agreement ensures free trade between Georgia and the EU, as it duplicates the provisions of the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area – DCFTA. “It is a very important day in UK-Georgian relations,” Zalkaliani said. “Signing the agreement with Georgia several days before Brexit indicates at the importance of Georgia for the UK,” he added.

Georgia and the United Kingdom harbour very good strategic relations which are reflected in the existence of the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue, an institutionalized negotiation format which brings together key elements of UK-Georgia bilateral relations; from political, defence and security, economic and trade ties as well as people-to-people relations and the signing of 15 bilateral documents so far. On 27 August, Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili said that “Brexit is certainly a very big challenge, but [she is] sure that it will lead to new opportunities and to new obligations of Europe to reform itself, and open new doors to Georgia” (Caucasus Watch reported).