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.
The Ministry said Janjalia welcomed Colonna at Tbilisi International Airport and noted the French FM would meet with her Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili before a joint press briefing. She will also meet the country’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and President Salome Zourabichvili.
The visit comes as part of the French top diplomat’s South Caucasus trip. She will arrive in Baku and Yerevan after the meetings with Georgian officials.
The French official’s visit also comes ahead of the NATO Summit in Vilnius in July and the European Union’s forthcoming decision whether to grant Georgia its membership candidate status by the end of this year.
Maka Botchorishvili, the Chair of the Georgian Parliament's European Union Integration Committee, on Wednesday said Colonna’s visit was an “opportunity” to demonstrate Georgia’s progress in efforts for European integration.