Georgian Parliamentary delegation, UK counterparts discuss ties
A delegation from the Georgian lawmaking body held meetings with James Heappey, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces of the UK and MPs. Photo: Parliament of Georgia
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The Parliament of Georgia on Thursday said a delegation from the lawmaking body had held meetings with James Heappey, the Minister of State for the Armed Forces of the United Kingdom and MPs during their visit to the UK to discuss security cooperation.
Led by Irakli Beraia, the Chair of the Defence and Security Committee in the Georgian Parliament, the visiting lawmakers reviewed the current situation in the Russian-occupied territories of Georgia, security challenges in the wider region, reforms for strengthening defence capabilities of the country and its Euro-Atlantic integration process in the meetings.
The Parliament also said the delegation met with Wendy Morton, a member of the House of Commons delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Harriett Baldwin, the Chair of the Finance Committee and Alicia Kearns, the Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee of the House of Commons.
The visiting MPs shared information on the security environment in Georgia and reforms implemented for Euro-Atlantic and European integration.
The delegation “emphasised the need” to increase involvement of the UK and NATO in the region, importance of UK’s support in the implementation of plans for the development of the Georgian Defence Forces, and the need to accelerate Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration.
The meeting noted Britain would continue to support Georgia and deepen the strategic partnership between the two countries.
The meetings were attended by Sophie Katsarava, the Georgian Ambassador to the UK.
Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze on Thursday discussed strategic partnership and future cooperation with his Romanian counterpart Angel Tîlvăr in a meeting held as part of the South-Eastern Europe Defence Ministerial in Ankara.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and a British Parliamentary delegation led by Jonathan Djanogly, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia in the British legislative body on Saturday discussed strategic partnership, highlighting “fruitful cooperation” through a number of important high-level visits in the first half of 2023.
“Main directions” of the strategic partnership between Georgia and the United Kingdom, and prospects for future cooperation were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and a British Parliamentary delegation led by Jonathan Djanogly, the Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia in the British legislative body.
Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze has presented a 10-year economic development plan which covers five major priorities: anti-armor, air, artillery, reconnaissance and engineering capabilities. He said that the plan is based on threats that Georgia may face in 2030 and the goal is to ensure the consistent and continuous development of the Georgian army in order to obtain high combat capability to cope with the challenges facing Georgia as well as to contribute to global security.