German FM says country’s citizens showing “great interest” in visiting Georgia

German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock on Friday said that her country’s citizens showed “great interest” in visiting Georgia, in comments during her first official trip to the country.

At a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Baerbock thanked her Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili for the “friendly reception” offered to her, and said it was “no coincidence” that Georgia has been chosen as the Host Country of ITB Berlin, a major international tourism fair in the German capital, earlier this month.

In Germany, there is great interest towards Georgia, [its] people, history, amazing nature and extraordinary cuisine. There is a great interest in coming to Georgia”, she said, adding the number of potential visitors from the country was rising.

These are people for whom [the Georgian dishes of] khinkali and khachapuri are no longer foreign words - although it is not easy to pronounce them, including for me”, she told the Georgian press.

In comments on her visit, Baerbock noted her discovery of the “extraordinary city” with “extraordinary architecture” on her arrival to Tbilisi, and said the historical links to German settlers and residents across the ages was noticeable in the architectural fabric of the capital.