Georgian church clerics visit Brussels to learn more about EU, NATO

High-profile clergymen of the Georgian Orthodox Church are visiting Brussels today to meet with representatives of the European Union (EU) and NATO.

The visit aims to help clerics explore ways of how the church can assist society in the process of integration with the West.

The first meeting was held with NATO’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai at NATO headquarters.

"The will of the Georgian nation has always been a yearning towards Europe. [We live in] a region where Russia has on multiple occasions shown its aggression and occupied our territories. We believe that our [future] security lies in joining North-Atlantic strictures”, said Saba Instkirveli, the ruling Bishop of the Georgian Diocese in North America.

Another high-ranking cleric, Anton Bulukhia, Metropolitan of the Vani and Baghdati Eparchy in the west of Georgia said the Georgian church delegation got to know the EU and NATO structures closer.

"We were warmly welcomed here. The existing stereotypes are being destroyed for both us and for them. They want to know who we are and what kind of people we are. We, too, are interested in where we are headed and what values they have here”, he said.

The delegation will spend today meeting with NATO officials and will continue their visit by meeting with EU representatives tomorrow.

The visit is part of a project being implemented by the non-governmental organization Centre for Development and Democracy with the financial support from the British Embassy in Georgia.

This is the second visit of its kind. Representatives of the Georgian Orthodox Church first visited Belgium in November of 2016.