Georgia to host 13th Batumi International Conference:
Georgia’s European Way 2016 [VIDEO]

Georgia is ready and so is the Black Sea coastal town Batumi to welcome hundreds of foreign guests at the 13th annual international conference dedicated to Georgia’s European future.

The country’s State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration David Bakradze said the conference would gather Georgia’s high-ranking officials and delegates from partner and European Union (EU) nations.

Watch a video bellow about this year’s conference: 

Bakradze said the July 14-15 conference at Batumi Hilton Hotel in coastal Batumi would focus on Georgia-EU relations as well as regional issues affecting Georgia and other nearby nations.

The main topics of this year’s Batumi International Conference will address:

• Georgia–EU relations;   
• A discussion about the European Neighbourhood Policy; its future, the lessons learned and key challenges especially in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) Policy segment of the document; 
• Implementation of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement, including the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA), as well as Georgia-EU  visa liberalisation; 
• The geopolitical situation in the region along with modern security challenges and opportunities; 
• Strategic communication and cooperation with civil society. 

The International Conference has been organised by the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration since 2007. This year‘s partner of the event is GLOBSEC, a Slovak think-tank that focused on domestic and international security. 

Among the participants expected to attend this year’s conference includes EU Commissioner for the European Neighborhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations Johannes Hahn, Deputy Director-General in Charge of Directorate (Neighbourhood East) Katarina Mathernova and EU Special Representative for the South Caucasus and Crisis in Georgia Herbert Salber.

Yasar Yakis , Turkey’s ex-Foreign Minister, Kalle Palling, Chairman of the European Union Affairs Committee, Parliament of Estonia, Karlheinz Kopf ,Second President of the National Council of the Parliament of the Republic of Austria, Róbert Vass, the President and Founder of the GLOBSEC, Slovak Republic and many other leading figures will also attend the event.