Georgia has registered serious progress in sovereign democratic state-making process - Arnold Stepanian.

U.S. President Barack Obama and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili have discussed security cooperation and a possible free-trade agreement at a White House meeting.
Obama told the Georgian leader that a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Tbilisi was a "possibility" and would be a "win-win" situation for both countries.
Obama said "a lot of work" needed to be done prior to crafting an agreement, which would eliminate tariffs, quotas, and other trade restrictions.
"We think [a free-trade agreement would be] a win-win [situation] for the United States and for Georgia, as we continue to find opportunities for businesses to invest in Georgia, for us to be able to sell Georgia our goods and services, and Georgia to be able to sell theirs as well," Obama said.
Saakashvili said a free-trade pact would help Georgia's evolution as a nation.
"It's very important that you mentioned, obviously, [the] prospect of a free-trade agreement with Georgia, because that's going to attract a lot of additional activity to my country and basically help in our nation-building process," Saakashvili said.
During the talk with LURER.com, "Multinational Georgia" NGO Chairman Arnold Stepanian informed new details about this meeting from Georgia.
According to him, the U.S. president expressed his satisfaction to the democratic process in Georgia. Obama told Saakashvili that he welcomed Georgian reforms over state structures and institutions. Due to Arnold Stepanian's words, Obama also said, "Georgia has also registered serious progress in sovereign democratic state-making process and in this content it is important the work carried out to fix and respect the rights of minorities."
Our interlocutor also noted that referring to this issue, they really see progress. "In its Civil Code Georgia made changes in July, due to which religious minorities can be registered in Georgia so far. In addition to this, an integration map of ethnic minorities has been developed in Georgia. The aim of this map is that national minorities will have chance to be integrated to Georgia's socio-political institutions. I think that Georgia really carries out serious steps towards protection of the rights of minorities and their integration. But this is only within the legislative framework. Now it is necessary to make the 2nd step - that is to register this progress in the practical and applicable dimension," said Arnold Stepanian during the talk with LURER.com.