The FINANCIAL — 02.07.2018, Berlin – “The EU flag flies not only in front of the building of the Parliament in Tbilisi, which is not the case in many countries. This blue flag with yellow stars is a common sight in Tbilisi that makes us happy and serves as an outer expression of what Georgians feel internally. Therefore, we should bring our policy closer to these sentiments and make our policy better to such countries as Georgia, what we need is the policy of European East” – The German Foreign Minister Heiko Maas said at a joint press conference with the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani.
According to him, Germany supports Georgia’s integration with the EU, and granting Georgia visa-free travel with the EU is one of the milestones on this path. “You have gathered a pace in carrying out importance reforms and have become a frontrunner in the region” – Heiko Maas said.
He also paid special attention to NATO-Georgia partnership. According to him, Georgia is a close ally of NATO which is manifested in Georgia’s active involvement in the international peacekeeping missions, as well as in Georgia’s participation in the NATO summit. The German Foreign Minister singled out for special mention the bravery of Georgian soldiers serving at the Mazar-i-Sharif military base in Afghanistan. He also stressed that Georgia’s presence at the upcoming NATO Summit in Brussels serves as yet another proof of Georgia’s close partnership with the Alliance. The German Minister said that Germany used to and will continue to stand by Georgia and that Georgia’s territorial integrity is not a bargaining chip for Germany.
The German Foreign Minister highlighted the importance of Georgia’s status as the Guest of Honour at the 2018 Frankfurt Book Fair. “We are happy that 70 outstanding Georgian writers will be presented at the book fair. Their books demonstrate that Georgians think and feel like Europeans and indeed, Georgia is very close to Europe” – the Minister said.
The meeting between Heiko Maas and David Zalkaliani was held within the framework of the latter’s visit to Berlin.
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