French FM to meet President, PM in Georgia visit
The top French diplomat will meet Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili. Photo: MFA of France
Tweet 
Share
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will visit Georgia on Friday to meet the country’s officials, the French foreign office said.
The top French diplomat will meet Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili.
En cette semaine lourde de symbole et parce que la France sait toute l’importance de préserver la paix dans la Caucase, @MinColonna se déplace en #Arménie, en #Azerbaïdjan et en #Géorgie
— France Diplomatie???????????????? (@francediplo) April 24, 2023
-> https://t.co/yn3uj3n8jV pic.twitter.com/1T3c7cni3H
“She will show her support for reforms in the rule of law and the preservation of civic space, which are essential to continue the country's rapprochement with the European Union”, the announcement said.
The French Embassy in Georgia on Tuesday said the Minister expressed her support for peace in the South Caucasus region and the country’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and European integration.
Relations between Georgia and France and prospects for future cooperation were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Sheraz Gasri, the French Ambassador to Georgia.
French and German ambassadors to Georgia, Sheraz Gasri and Peter Fischer, on Friday said the European Union had “opened its arms” to Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova in last year’s decisions on the Associated Trio countries’ aspirations for joining the bloc, in a joint statement released on the first anniversary of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Georgia will receive €100 million from the French Development Agency to co-finance its human capital development programme as part of the agreement signed on Tuesday between the AFD, the ministry of finance of Georgia and the French embassy.
Georgian and French foreign ministers on Monday discussed bilateral ties and praised “close cooperation” at a meeting held on the sidelines of the United Nations climate change conference in Sharm El Sheikh, the Georgian foreign ministry said.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Wednesday said the visit of the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to the country this week was an “opportunity” to demonstrate Georgia’s progress in efforts for European integration.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Friday said France was an “important partner” with a “particular importance” in shaping positions of the European Union, ahead of the visit of the French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna to Georgia.
Catherine Colonna, the French Foreign Minister, on Friday arrived in Georgia to mark the first trip of a French top diplomat to Tbilisi in five years, as the visiting official was welcomed by Teimuraz Janjalia, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia.
Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Friday highlighted the importance of the visit of the top French diplomat to the country, and noted that France was an “unwavering” partner in building the country's “European future”.