2016-06-17
By the end of his official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili attended the celebratory reception marking the Independence Day of Georgia.
The event hosted by Embassy of Georgia was attended by Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmaier, who delivered a speech.
Pursuant to the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs, Germany wholeheartedly supports Georgia's European aspirations and cooperation process. Walter Steinmaier considers that Georgia has scrupulously complied with all the tasks set out by the Visa Liberalization Action Plan.
"I am a strong supporter of Georgia's visa liberalization issue. I understand that citizens of Georgia are willing to enjoy visa-free travel benefits with Europe, after Georgia performed the mandatory steps expected by the EU. I firmly believe and would like to emphasize that we can solve this issue and we will take right decision for both nations. However, to achieve set goal, we need to demonstrate firmness, diligent labor and unity. Our intensive dialogue throughout last 2-3 weeks has been a clear indication of the continuation of our close and constructive relations and aims at finding solutions to the existing challenges. Joint celebration of Georgia's National Holiday is a clear indication of Georgian-German unity," - Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted.
Pursuant to Steinmeier, by the 25th anniversary of its independence, Georgia managed to implement quite ambitious reforms in terms of drawing closer to Europe.
"I believe that Georgia and Georgians can be proud not only of independence, but of the centuries-old traditions in terms of Georgian language, literature and arts as well as the results that have been achieved in view of approximation and cooperation with Europe after these 25 years of independence. You can be proud of very ambitious internal reforms implemented by Georgia during this period of time. Dear Prime Minister, dear Giorgi, I would like to assure you that Germany wholeheartedly supports the process of approximation of Georgia to Europe. Similarly, as we noted during our meeting today, we support not only independence of Georgia, but also territorial integrity of Georgia. During our meeting today, we discussed the situation on the occupied territories of Georgia," - Frank-Walter Steinmeier noted.
Pursuant to him, Georgian-German relations are based on a firm fundament that is necessary to cope with the challenges faced by the both countries.
In his speech Prime Minister thanked the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany for supporting Georgia and the warm welcome. He also emphasized the need of deepening Georgian-German relations and expressed hope that the support will continue in the future as well.
" Germany was the first nation to open its embassy in Tbilisi in April 1992, which was inaugurated by one of the brightest German statesmen Hans-Dietrich Genscher, who helped the newborn state to take the very first independent steps of statehood. Since then, Germany has been a staunch supporter of Georgia's independence, sovereignty and, most importantly, of our territorial integrity. We are extremely grateful for that. Germany's support to Georgia is based on our shared values and is fundamental to us as we implement our European and Euro-Atlantic integration agenda," -Giorgi Kvirikashvili indicated.
The celebratory reception in Berlin was attended by diplomats, businessmen and politicians.
Prime Minister's Press Office