In Luxembourg Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with Ireland’s Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Simon Coveney, GeorgiaToday reports.
Highly appraising the increasing level of bilateral relations between Georgia and Ireland, both sides affirmed their commitment to further develop cooperation.
Coveney pledged his government’s firm support for Georgia’s EU integration, offering to share Ireland’s EU integration experience with Georgia.
Discussions during the meeting focused mainly on the situation in Georgia’s occupied territories. Zalkaliani updated his counterpart on the ongoing conflict resolution process, Georgia’s peace policy and the new peace initiative “A Step towards a Better Future.” The necessity of keeping the occupation of the Georgian regions and the situation on the ground high on the international agenda was also highlighted. The Irish side reaffirmed its support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity as is reflected in bilateral and multilateral formats of cooperation.
The Ministers welcomed the increasing level of inter-parliamentary relations between the two countries and the exchange of bilateral visits. Special attention was paid to the resolutions adopted in support for Georgia in 2017 and 2018 by the Foreign Relations, Trade and Defence Committee of the Irish Parliament.
Zalkaliani thanked his Irish counterpart for adding Georgia to the list of ‘safe countries,’ which points to Ireland’s recognition of Georgia’s progress in improving its political and democratic climate, human rights and security situation.
Zalkaliani also provided Coveney with detailed information on Georgia’s European integration agenda and the government’s EU Integration Roadmap. The sides also spoke about Georgia as an important regional transit and energy hub and the Irish business communities’ possible interest in Georgia’s investment climate.