Georgia’s Foreign Minister meets John Kerry at OSCE Ministerial Council

Georgia’s Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili is rubbing shoulders with top international officials at the latest Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Ministerial Council, including United States (US) Secretary of State John Kerry.

The Georgian Foreign Minister and a small delegation are in the Swiss city of Basel to take part in the 21st OSCE Ministerial.

Beruchashvili’s has met the US official today and discussed the current situation in Georgia’s occupied regions, the recently-signed ‘Alliance and Strategic Partnership’ treaty between de-facto Abkhazia and Russia, regional and local security risks and modern challenges in terms of international and regional safety.

Afterwards, Beruchashvili said Kerry was very supportive of Georgia and he offered some "very serious messages”.

"It was my first meeting with Mr. Kerry. He reaffirmed the United States’ support to Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. No treaty signed between Georgia’s occupied regions and Russia is not and will never be recognized by the United States,” Beruchashvili said.

"Mr. Kerry has promised assistance in terms of mobilising the international community’s attention in this regard. The United States supports our Euro-Atlantic course. Kerry promised to support us regarding the implementation of the agreements made at the NATO Wales Summit and carrying out democratic reforms.”

As well as meeting the US official, Beruchashvili gave a speech at the OSCE Ministerial which focused on all of the challenges currently facing Georgia.

"[The OSCE Ministerial] is a very important format of meetings where we can address current security challenges. During my speech I focused on the treaty between Abkhazia and Russia and facts of human rights violation on Georgia’s de-facto regions,” Georgia’s Foreign Minister said.

"We appealed to the international community, including the OCSE, to activate all its levers in the region as the situation that is currently taking place in Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova are very noteworthy for the international security,” she said.

Meanwhile High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the international community was aware of Russia’s provocations in Georgia and in the wider region.

"The crisis in and around Ukraine is not the only conflict on our agenda. It is also important to achieve tangible progress in the resolution of the protracted conflicts in Georgia, the Republic of Moldova, and of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict. Time is not on the side of peace, and we know that very well,” she said.

According to Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Beruchashvili has already held bilateral meetings with Armenian, Romanian, Finish Foreign Ministers, OSCE General Secretary Lamberto Zannier and director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights Michael Georg Link.

The OSCE Ministerial, held annually, provides foreign ministers and more than 70 delegations of OSCE participating states, partner countries and several international organisations an opportunity to review and assess the organisation's activities during the past year and offer national viewpoints on security matters.