Georgian, Lithuanian Presidents meet in Vilnius
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Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili met with the Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite within his first visa-free visit to Vilnius.
Official welcoming ceremony at the #Lithuanian Presidential Palace. Honored to be with #Georgia's great friend @Grybauskaite_LTpic.twitter.com/znQHyZhlIu
— President Of Georgia (@MargvelashviliG) March 30, 2017
Grybauskaite said Lithuania supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. She said Lithuanians understand the situation in Georgia’s breakaway regions and will raise the issue on the international level.
We can see what is happening along Georgia’s occupation line in its Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions. This is an open annexation, which we are denouncing”, Grybauskaite said.
President Margvelashvili said Russian Federation is carrying out an annexation policy through its recent steps in both breakaway regions. This is why he asked Grybauskaite to raise Georgian issue at the upcoming NATO summit this May in Brussels, Belgium, which will be attended only by the NATO member states.
I want to once again emphasise today that the difficulties in [Russian] occupied territories of Georgia will be solved through non-violent ways… and in European context and format”, Margvelashvili said.
Congratulating President Margvelashvili with Georgia’s visa-free travel with the European Union/Schengen Zone that entered into force this Tuesday, Grybauskaite hopes this will bring Georgia-Lithuania relations even closer.
She said Lithuania will always be the country that will assist Georgia fulfill its efforts and receive European Union (EU) and NATO membership.
#Lithuania & #Georgia – defined by courage to defend freedom, united by dedication to create future. pic.twitter.com/STniFx2rDb
— Dalia GrybauskaitÄ (@Grybauskaite_LT) March 30, 2017
President Margvelashvili arrived to Lithuania today with a delegation including three Georgian citizens with Abkhazian and Ossetian origin.
Tamaz Gatikaev, Esma Kokoskeria and Paata Shiukashvili from the Russian occupied regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) - are among the first citizens of Georgia to use visa-free travel opportunities with Margvelashvili.
The regulation lifting visa requirements for Georgians entered into effect this Tuesday, March 28.
It means that Georgian citizens, including those living in breakaway Abkhaiza and Tskhinvali, who hold biometric passports can travel to the Schengen Zone for a period of 90 days within any 180-day period for purposes other than working.
Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili is paying his first visa-free visit to Lithuania with Georgian citizens with Abkhazian and Ossetian origin today.
A large street banner has been installed near the Vilnius Airport to warmly greet first guests from Georgia who travel to Lithuania visa-free. The bilingual banner says in English and Georgian: "Closer than ever.”
Today is a day Georgians have awaited for years. A number of international leaders have taken to Twitter to share their happiness for Georgia. Some of them even issued a congratulatory video message in Georgian.
From now on, Georgian citizens no longer need a visa to travel to the Schengen Zone. The regulation lifting visa requirements for Georgians entered into effect today, Tuesday, March 28.
An auditorium at a Lithuanian university will be named after Georgia’s highly-esteemed public figure, writer, poet and 19th Century journalist Ilia Chavchavadze.
The ties between the Georgian and Lithuanian Interior Ministries will now become stronger as the two countries have signed a memorandum of understanding between their police units.
The Lithuanian parliament has prepared a four-year action plan on support to Georgia.
Lithuanian Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius says that Georgia will dispel of all existing doubts over the Georgia-EU visa free deal.