Georgia appoints new ambassadors to France and Israel
Lasha Zhvania will be the Georgian ambassador to Israel, while Tea Katukia will represent the country in France and UNESCO. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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Georgia will have new ambassadors to France and Israel, the Georgian Foreign Ministry announced on yesterday.
Lasha Zhvania, who recently served as the head of President Salome Zurabishvili’s administration, will represent the country in Israel.
Zhvania resigned in May 2019 to continue managing the International Charitable Foundation of the Catholicos-Patriarch of All Georgia Ilia II, where he has served since 2011.
Tea Katukia will be the Georgian Ambassador to France and the country's permanent representative to UNESCO.
Katukia was the Secretary General of a French research centre on prevention and analysis of international threat since 2012. A Sorbonne University graduate, Katukia was also the editor-in-chief of French magazine Diplomacy.
The French flag carrier Air France has made its inaugural flight from the French capital of Paris today, with Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili being among its first passengers. Air France will be carrying out regular flights between Paris and Tbilisi twice a week until 23 October with an Airbus A 320.
The presidents of Georgia and France have held a meeting at Elysee Palace and signed a document on furthering French-Georgian cooperation. The parties discussed the improvement of Georgia-France bilateral relationships and increasing French support for Georgia in international organizations.
2017 marks the 25th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Israel.
Georgian citizens can now travel to Israel without a visa for tourism or other private reasons.
The Georgian Foreign Ministry stated today that it has been “following with concern" the latest developments in the Gaza Strip and South Israel”. “We express deep sorrow over the casualties and injuries among the civil population caused by the rocket attacks”, the ministry stated.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who is holding meetings in Israel, has stated that relations between Georgia and Israel ‘are not only deep and close, they are historical’ as 26 centuries ‘have shaped the bonds between the Jewish and Georgian people.’ Zurabishvili has met with Israeli President Reuven Rivlin, with whom an agreement was reached that the process of signing the agreement on legal employment of Georgians in Israel will be accelerated.