Georgia’s Interior Minister pays first official visit to Germany
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Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs is embracing his first official visit to Germany by meeting several German high officials.
Minister Vakhang Gomelauri has already met his German counterpart Thomas de Maiziere on day one of his visit to the Federal Republic of Germany today.
At the meeting the sides discussed the progress achieved by Georgia as it worked to implement the Visa Liberalisation Action Plan (VLAP), and prospects of cooperation in the policing sphere and future plans.
After the meeting Gomelauri commented that this meeting had "big significance” for him as it was his first meeting on his first official visit to Germany.
"We discussed the visa liberalisation process, which is one of the important priorities for our country. We also touched on the issue of the fight against organised crime,” said Gomelauri.
"This year we have significantly improved the level of cooperation between our countries and I hope that it will be even more enhanced in the future, as our police attaché will be sent to Germany,” he added.
In return, de Maiziere stressed the "good relations” shared between Germany and the Georgian Government, and the positive atmosphere during the meeting.
"We have very good relations with the new government of Georgia. Last year we signed agreement by which we confirmed our willingness to cooperate in the fight against organised crime. The President of the German Federal Criminal Police Office visited Georgia and [Georgia’s] former Minister of Internal Affairs also visited Germany,” he said.
"We have renewed our cooperation and we do not want organised criminals to abuse Georgia’s reputation and damage our excellent relations. Therefore we want to cooperate as closely as possible in order to deprive criminals of any opportunities,” de Maiziere noted.
Within Gomelauri’s Germany visit, the Georgian official has also met with chairman of the Bundestag Home Affairs Committee Wolfgang Basboch and the German Federal Criminal Police Office president Holger Munch.
Gomelauri was appointed as Georgia’s Minister of Internal Affairs at the end of January 2015.
The country’s Minister of Internal Affairs has travelled to Germany to deepen cooperation between his institution and those of his German counterparts.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili has introduced Deputy Interior Minister Vakhtang Gomelauri as the country’s new Minister of Internal Affairs.