Penultimate EU Member State Ratifies Association Deal With Georgia

Italy became the 27th member of the 28-nation European Union that ratified an Association Agreement between Georgia and the bloc, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Thursday.

TBILISI (Sputnik) — "Today, November 26, the Italian Senate [of the Republic] ratified the EU-Georgia Association Agreement," the statement said.

On June 27, 2014, the European Union and Georgia signed the Agreement that was ratified by the Georgian parliament almost a month later, and by the European Parliament in December the same year. To come into effect this agreement should be signed by all 28 EU states, including Belgium which has not done this yet.

The ministry statement added that the Chamber of Deputies, the other house of the Italian parliament, ratified the agreement on July.

Georgia has been in talks with the European Union over the association agreement since 2010.