In a speech to Council of Europe parliamentarians today, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili outlined the ways in which his country had embraced European values.

“We have made our choice,” he told the Assembly, “we have come a long way to be part of a Europe whole and free […] In joining the Council of Europe, we have become ‘European’ in the deepest sense of the term.”

Outlining reforms that have taken place in his country since 2012, he said that “abiding by European standards is an obligation that has become a habit”.

“We have delivered European values to Georgians, and we have surpassed Europe’s expectations of democratic consolidation and democratisation,” he said.

The Prime Minister cited reforms in the electoral field, the justice system and the media, as well as his government’s efforts to make progress on the situation in the occuped territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“Dignity,” he concluded, “lies at the heart of our identity”.

• Stand up Mr Kvirikashvili and Mr Agramunt
• Video of the speech