President of Dutch Senate visits Georgia

President of the Senate, the upper house of the Netherlands’ Parliament Ankie Broekers-Knol, is paying her first official visit to Georgia.

Today the Dutch official met with Georgian high officials, President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili.

At her meeting with Margvelashvili at the Presidential Palace today, the pair discussed Georgia's European and Euro-integration.

Margvelashvili expressed hope that the upper house of the Netherlands’ Parliament will ratify the Association Agreement (AA) between Georgia and the European Union (EU) in the nearest future.

Meanwhile, the House of Representatives of the Parliament of the Netherlands, with the vast majority, ratified the EU-Georgia deal on April 7, 2015.

Other talking points of the meeting also included the Eastern Partnership (EaP) meeting, which will be held in May in Riga, Latvia.

The President’s press centre noted the EaP summit will be very important for Georgia for its European perspective on the way toward European integration.

This was a very open meeting and I think that Georgia should be happy to have such a President," said the Dutch official after meeting Margvelashvili.

We discussed a range of issues and the President is ready to support the progress of trade and economy, as well as democratisation. We had a very good meeting,” Broekers-Knol said.

Regional security issues, including the situation in Georgia’s occupied territories and the policy of Russia toward neighboring states was also discussed.

On another note, the Dutch envoy also met with head of the Georgian Government, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili today.

The main topics of discussion between Garibashvili and Broekers-Knol was the relationship between the two countries and Georgia’s European integration process.

The Prime Minister’s press office said that at the meeting both sides highlighted the positive relationship between Georgia and the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It was a "dynamic" relationship that covered many areas, including the most active economic cooperation and development program.

Tomorrow, the Dutch delegation will visit the Georgian Parliament chamber in Kutaisi, where she will meet her Georgian counterpart David Usupashvili and other senior lawmakers.

Within the visit, the Dutch Senate speaker will also meet Justice Minister Thea Tsulukiani and chairperson of the Supreme Court Nino Gvenetadze.