German FM says country’s citizens showing “great interest” in visiting Georgia
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Georgian Foreing Minister Ilia Darchiashvili held press-briefing in Tbilisi on Friday. Photo: MFA of Georgia
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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.
Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili on Friday said the country’s people would not understand “another refusal” from the European Union to grant Georgia its membership candidate status later this year.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, on Friday said the Georgian Government and the civil society could not become members of the European Union independently of one another, in comments highlighting the necessity of their joint work on fulfilling the bloc’s conditions for granting the country its membership candidate status.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday said the European Union flag was “flying not only at protest rallies, but in the hearts of all of us” given the “historical choice” of EU membership by the country’s citizens.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who is on her first official visit to Georgia, on Friday said Georgian citizens “belong in” the European Union and vowed her country’s support for the country’s European integration.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday said the country enjoyed “full support” and “expressed willingness” of its partners to help “our country” to achieve “further success” in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration process and “peacefully” overcome the existing challenges.
The cooperation between Georgia and Germany, the progress on the European integration path and the implementation of the EU conditions for granting the country the membership candidate status were discussed on Friday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and the German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock ended her two-day official visit to Georgia later on Friday, with her Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili escorting her to the Tbilisi International Airport for the official departure ceremony.