UK-Georgia dialogue will deepen bilateral ties
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From now on the United Kingdom-Georgia dialogue will be known as ‘The Wardrop Dialogue’ in honour of Sir Oliver Wardrop - Britain’s first Chief Commissioner to Georgia in 1919-1921 who believed in deepening cooperation between the two countries.
The UK’s Ambassador to Georgia Alexandra Hall Hall, who attended the first UK-Georgia bilateral dialogue in London on Wednesday, was confident that the UK-Georgia relationship was already strong but the new dialogue offered the chance to take it to a new level.
"I am delighted to open the restart of the dialogue between the UK and Georgia. We would like to continue the history of a long, strong relationship between the countries for further hundreds of years. This dialogue gives us the chance to consider the areas we can further develop,” Hall Hall said.
She further reiterated the UK’s commitment to Georgia’s territorial integrity and noted the UK supported Georgia to have good recognition to the NATO Summit.
The Wardrop Dialogue involved discussions on three main issues; politics, security and defence as well as economy.
During the day of talks the two sides discussed issues relating to foreign policy, national security and defence, and commercial, economic and energy with a particular focus on issues where the UK and Georgia may be able to work more closely and share knowledge and experience.
The Georgian delegation in the UK, led by Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, included Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development Mikheil Janelidze and Deputy Minister for Energy Mariam Valishvili.
The two Deputy Ministers met UK Trade Minister Lord Livingston and discussed economic relations, including the EU-Georgia Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area perspectives, Georgia’s exports diversification prosperities and recent reforms.
Livingston expressed interest in deepening relations with Georgia’s transport, energy and tourism sectors, Georgia’s Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development said in a press statement.
The parties also discussed the necessity of establishing direct flights between Georgia and the UK.
Earlier today the Georgian delegation met with representatives of BP, a British multinational oil and gas company headquartered in London. BP is one of the major foreign investors in Georgia, through energy transportation and sustainable development initiatives.
BP operates three major oil and gas pipelines in Georgia including the Western Route Export Pipeline (WREP), also known as the Baku-Supsa pipeline, the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan (BTC) pipeline and the South Caucasus gas pipeline (SCP), which carries gas from the Shah Deniz field in the Caspian to markets in Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey.
The United Kingdom’s Minister for Europe David Lidington and the Foreign Minister of Georgia Tamar Beruchashvili met in London today for the inaugural session of the UK-Georgia bilateral dialogue.
British Foreign Secretary William Hague visited Georgia to support "Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic trajectory, its territorial integrity and democratic progress”, said Hague after meeting Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze today.
Cooperation between Georgia and the United Kingdom (UK) is being closely examined this week at the latest Wardrop Dialogue gathering, where officials from both countries are meeting and exploring ways to deepen the current relationship.
Georgia and Great Britain are stepping up cooperation to develop and improve the existing trade and economic relations both countries currently enjoy.
Today British Ambassador to Georgia Alexandra Hall Hall hosted a reception to formally announce the beginning of the new UK financial aid program - the Good Governance Fund – which would support Georgia’s ongoing reform process.
The United Kingdom (UK) Government has appointed its new Ambassador to Georgia.
Georgian top officials have arrived in the UK to attend the Georgia-UK fourth session of dialogue, known as the Wardrop Dialogue, created to enhance ties between the two nations.
The Dialogue was opened today in London by Sir Alan Duncan, Minister of State for Europe and the Americas.
Sir Gary Johnson, UK Government Adviser on Foreign Security and Crisis Management has come to Georgia today and held his first meeting with Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and UK Minister for European Neighbourhood Wendy Morton have discussed how Georgia and the UK can strengthen their partnership in terms of defence, security, trade and culture.