The European Parliament on December 18 endorsed a political and trade agreement with Georgia.
The ratification of Georgia’s EU association agreement is the third such deal endorsed with an eastern neighbor of the European Union within three months.
The deals have frustrated the Kremlin, which has said they could hurt Russia’s economy and are incompatible with a separate free trade zone Moscow has established.
Speaking in Strasbourg ahead of the vote, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelshvili called the event “an exceptional and very important day” for his country.
To enter into force, the deals still need to be ratified by the national parliaments of each individual EU member country.
Margvelashvili says lawmakers in 10 countries already have done so.