Obama meets with Georgian republic leader

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama offered encouragement yesterday for the hopes of the former Soviet republic of Georgia for a preferential trade agreement with the United States, but said Georgia has a way to go in its economic reforms.

Obama praised visiting Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, saying there is a "possibility" of a free-trade agreement, is a top priority for Georgia. Obama said the United States will help Georgia strengthen its free market system with high-level dialogue, but did not address when or under what conditions.

Saakashvili thanked Obama for the free trade consideration. "That's going to attract lots of additional activity to my country," he said.

Georgia's leverage in asking for trade advantages grew last year, when it quietly dropped objections to Russian membership in the World Trade Organization. Of the independent nations that were once part of the Soviet Union. Georgia is probably the most hostile toward Moscow.

Russian WTO membership was part of Obama's effort to repair relations that hit a low point after Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 over a territorial dispute.

Sitting with Saakashvili after an Oval Office meeting, Obama said the two discussed the importance of protecting minorities and the rule of law, an apparent reference to alleged political power plays by Saakashvili's party and the recent arrest of journalists and others on allegations of spying for Russia.

But Obama praised Georgia as an example of democracy in the former Soviet region. He said scheduled democratic elections, in which Saakashvili is to step aside, "will solidify many of the reforms that are taking place."

Critics have accused Saakashvili of trying to engineer constitutional reforms that would allow him to pull strings from offstage, in the manner of Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, after he leaves office. He denies it.

Obama appeared to make an oblique reference to that debate by saying he was "anticipating fair and free elections" and "the formal transfer of power."

Saakashvili, president since 2004, has sought to steer Georgia toward the European Union and NATO. He has been credited with economic and anti-corruption reforms, but opponents accuse him of stifling media freedom and sidelining the opposition, and criticized his handling of the 2008 war with Russia.