Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze heads to Lithuania for first official visit

Mamuka Bakhtadze will visit Lithuania on January 21. Photo: PM's press office.

Agenda.ge, 18 Jan 2019 - 20:33, Tbilisi,Georgia

Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze is getting ready for his first official visit to Lithuania, where he will head on January 21 to meet with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and university students.

Announcing the visit, PM Bakhtadze termed Lithuania "friendly nation … that [supports] Georgia and protects [our] interests on every international platform. I want to thank our friends, and I’m confident that the upcoming visit will result in even strong bonds between our two countries”.

Last year, the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani visited Lithuania and held talks with his counterpart about political, trade and economic relations.

The Lithuanian parliament adopted a resolution on the 10th anniversary of the Russian-Georgian War of August 2008, condemning Russia’s illegal occupation and military activity on Georgian territory.

In August 2018 Lithuania also has set migration restrictions for people who have violated the rights of Georgian citizens in the Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) since the 1990s.

Moreover, in honour of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the First Republic of Georgia, Lithuania replaced the official name of Georgia in Lithuanian, Gruzia [of Russian origin], with Sakartvelo – the name for the country in Georgia.