Meeting with PACE President Marks the Beginning of Prime Minister’s Visit to Strasbourg
2019-04-10
The Georgian Prime Minister's visit to Strasbourg started with a meeting with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.
Mamuka Bakhtadze and Liliane Maury Pasquier discussed Georgia-PACE relations and emphasized Georgia's significant progress toward democratic consolidation and reforming.
The parties also discussed Georgia's upcoming chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, along with the challenges facing the organization.
Special attention was paid to the dire situation and blatant human rights violations in Georgia's occupied territories.
After the meeting, the Prime Minister of Georgia and the PACE President made statements for the press.
"As you know, 2019 is a commemorative year as we celebrate the 70th anniversary of the Council of Europe, and 20 years of Georgia's accession to this important organization. Therefore, I am especially grateful to the President of the Parliamentary Assembly for her invitation that gives me a chance to visit Strasbourg and to address the honorable delegates and guests of PACE. I would also like to use this opportunity to express gratitude to Madam President whom I will be hosting in Georgia very soon. During our bilateral meeting, we discussed the issues of our cooperation, and we outlined the considerable progress that Georgia has made in recent years in terms of democratic consolidation and reform processes, and further cementing these achievements. We also discussed the challenges the Council of Europe is facing these days and, of course, touched on the forthcoming Georgian presidency of the Committee of Ministers. Very importantly for Georgia, for my country, I informed the President of PACE of eth recent developments and gross human rights violations in the occupied regions of Georgia. From my side, I also emphasized that Georgia is ready to continue cooperation with PACE. I expressed gratitude for the Council of Europe's engagement in the reform process in Georgia, particularly through the Parliamentary Assembly, and I noted that these recommendations are important in the process of harmonizing our national practices and legislation with the European standards. In the end, we of course agreed to maintain a very high level of cooperation in the future as well," Mamuka Bakhtadze said.
The PACE President emphasized the organization's close cooperation with Georgia, as evidenced by her upcoming visit to Tbilisi on April 29-30. Liliane Maury Pasquier will participate in the events celebrating the 20th anniversary of Georgia's accession to the Council of Europe.
