Georgian ambassador to Austria presents credentials to OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili (right) has served as the State Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality since August 2016. Photo: Georgian Foreign Ministry press office
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Georgia’s new ambassador to Austria and Vienna-based international organisations, Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, has presented her credentials to OSCE Secretary General Thomas Greminger today.
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has tweeted:
Thank you Amb @gremingerosce for welcoming me to OSCE family! Looking frw to our successful cooperation! https://t.co/fKZ3BreMsh
— Keti Tsikhelashvili (@TsikhelashviliK) July 8, 2020
During the meeting Tsikhelashvili and Greminger spoke of cooperation between Georgia and OSCE as well as the grave humanitarian situation in the two Russia-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).
Tsikhelashvili, who previously served as Georgia’s State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, was appointed as ambassador in May.
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili said the safety of the population in the Russian-occupied region of Abkhazia is the key priority amid current tension there.
Georgian Minister of Reconciliation and Civil Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili has delivered a speech in the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament yesterday, speaking ‘on behalf of the Georgian people living in the Russian-occupied Akhalgori district, where the humanitarian situation is particularly severe due to the closure of the crossing point with the rest of Georgia,’ in September 2019.
Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, who previously served as the Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia, has been appointed as the country’s new ambassador to Austria. She served as the Minister for Reconciliation and Civil Equality since August 2016, and the first deputy minister of the same body before that.
State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia Ketevan Tsikhelashvili said in response to recent developments in the Russia-occupied region of Abkhazia that the Government of Georgia is not only ready for dialogue with the Abkhaz and Ossetian public but is making steps forward.
Georgian Ambassador to Austria and Vienna-based international organisations Ketevan Tsikhelashvili spoke of the security and human rights situation in the two Russia-occupied Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) at the OSCE permanent council session earlier today.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili and Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia have congratulated Helga Schmid on becoming secretary general of the OSCE. At the 27th OSCE Ministerial Council on December 4, participating states appointed new senior leadership for the organisation, including Helga Schmid who replaced Thomas Greminger as secretary general.
Former, current and future chairs of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) Slovakia, Albania, Sweden, Poland and Macedonia have reiterated their support to Georgia’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity at the recent OSCE ministerial council in Tirana.
OSCE Secretary General Helga Maria Schmid will visit Georgia tomorrow. During her visit she will hold meetings with Georgian authorities, including President Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Parliament Speaker Kakha Kuchava.