The FINANCIAL — “Georgia is an integral part of Europe for which EU has an enduring power of attraction” – the Georgian Vice Premier, Foreign Minister said when speaking before the 14th international conference – “Georgia’s European Way – Ensuring Regional Security”.
According to the Minister, the EU and Georgia share not only values of human rights, democracy and international law, but also have to face common risks and challenges, which first of all concern security. As Mikheil Janelidze said, Georgia not only wholeheartedly welcomes the Strategy, but is also ready to contribute to the security of the region. Georgia actively cooperates with both NATO and the EU with a view to strengthening security in the Black Sea region.
“I am proud to say that Georgia has had a noble record in being a net provide of international security, in a NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and in EU-led operations in African countries” – Mikheil Janelidze said.
Minister spoke about Georgia’s strategic geographical location and transit functions. According to him, Georgia is considered as one of the main transit countries of hydrocarbons from Caspian region to Europe. Over the past decade pipelines such as the South Caucasus Gas pipeline (SCP), Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) and Baku-Tbilisi-Supsa oil pipelines have been successfully delivering Caspian hydrocarbon resources to Europe, according to MFA of Georgia.
Mikheil Janelidze paid special attention to the South Gas Corridor project as well, which will expand the SCP through Azerbaijan and Georgia by Trans Anatolian Gas Pipeline (TANAP) across Turkey and Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) into Greece and Italy, thus opening direct access to the Caspian gas resources for the customers in Europe.
According to Mikheil Janelidze, “this emphasizes Georgia’s reliability as a transit partner, which gives the country an important place in the energy security system of Europe”.
Batumi hosts the 14th Annual International Conference – “Georgia’s European Way – Ensuring Regional Stability”. The Conference draws particular attention to the main topics of the European Agenda, including Europe’s current security architecture and new forms of cooperation between the EU and its associated partner countries, emphasizing the role of Georgia in ensuring regional stability.
Discussion about this post