Georgian Parliament Speaker meets with French counterpart in Paris
The Georgian parliamentary speaker briefed his French counterpart on the current situation in the two occupied regions of Georgia. Photo: Parliament’s press office.
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Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze has started his official visit to France with a meeting with his French counterpart, Gerard Larcher.
The top issues on the agenda were the enhancement of the political, economic and cultural relations between the countries, Georgia’s integration into NATO and the EU and the current situation in the occupied regions of Georgia, Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Kobakhidze stated that he and Larcher discussed the importance of the Dimitri Amilakhvari Georgian-French high-level political dialogue format.
Amilakhvari was a French military officer of Georgian origin who played an important role in the French resistance against Nazi forces.
We touched upon the political, economic and cultural aspects of our cooperation and noted the importance of further enhancing our relations. We discussed the importance of the Dimitri Amilakhvari political dialogue to give new incentive to our bilateral relations. We also discussed enhancing our inter-parliamentary relations,” Kobakhidze said.
Kobakhidze stated that the former officials of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia lived in exile in France which “can be used for the positive development of our cooperation in tourism."
Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze will visit France with a delegation of Georgian lawmakers on January 14-16. He will meet with the President of the French Senate Gérard Larcher and President of the National Assembly Richard Ferrand.
Minister of Defence of Georgia Levan Izoria has signed an agreement with his French colleague Florence Parly on the purchase of an air defence management and control system.
The French government has called on Russia to fulfill the 2008 ceasefire agreement with Georgia and withdraw its forces from Georgian territory, the Embassy of France in Georgia has reported.
France and Georgia are launching a high level dialogue format named after Georgian prince Dimitri Milakhvari, a French military officer and Lieutenant Colonel of the French Foreign Legion who played an important role in the French Resistance against Nazi occupation during the World War II.
Georgian Parliament Speaker told French lawmakers today that “both occupied regions of Georgia Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) have in fact become the closed military bases of Russia or service stations”.
The Embassy of France has provided details regarding the recent agreement between France and Georgia which will allow a certain category of Georgian citizens to receive temporary residency permits and work legally in the country.