2017 announced as Georgia-Germany year of friendship

In 2017 the country will celebrate Georgia’s enduring friendship with Germany and the 200^th anniversary of the first German villages in Georgia.

This was agreed at a meeting today in Berlin between the Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Georgia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Maia Panjikidze, who was on her Foreign Ministers’ working visit to Germany.

At the meeting, held in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, the counterparts discussed how the countries currently cooperated and ways to enhance collaboration. The officials highlighted the friendly relations between two countries that had become more active over time.

"In 2017 there is the 200th anniversary of the foundation of German villages in Georgia. To commemorate this date we agreed that 2017 will be announced as a year of friendship of Georgia and Germany,” Panjikidze said.

"The German side is interested in finishing construction of a German school in Georgia, and there are planned important events to celebrate this day," Panjikidze said.

The officials noted next year high ranking officials from Germany will visit Georgia. The German delegation, led by Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, will visit Georgia with the country’s Federal Minister of Foreign Affairs and Federal Minister of Economic Relations.

Meanwhile at the meeting special attention was made on the events in Georgia’s breakaways territories as well as the new ‘Alliance and Integration’ agreement offered by Russia to the Abkhazian de facto regime.

During the meeting the Georgian and German counterparts also took time to discuss the decision to form new package of collaboration between the countries.

"Taking into account the dialogue between two countries we agreed to work on a new format of collaboration that will adequately express intensive relations between the two countries and contains political, economic, military and also cultural issues," Georgia’s Foreign Minister said.

Georgia’s integration in European and Euro-Atlantic structures was also emphasized at the meeting. It was noted that Georgia’s deepening of relations of Germany had special importance in the context of implementing the Association Agreement (AA) with the European Union (EU) and the Substantive Package offered by NATO.

"We agreed that Germany should be the leader country on the way in European integration," Panjikidze stated after the meeting.

Georgia’s Foreign Minister also responded to the issue of Germany naming Georgia on its list of high-risk countries.

"[By naming Georgia on this list] means that there are two breakaway territories in Georgia where German citizens are advised not to enter. They are not also advised to enter the country through any other way, for example, from the Russian border, because it contradicts the law of Georgia on the occupied territories and just these areas are declared as unsafe. We agree with this opinion,” Panjikidze said.

Despite this she hoped Germany will soon remove Georgia from this list.