Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Helga Maria Schmid, the Secretary General of Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe on Saturday discussed Georgia’s role and involvement in maintaining peace and stability in the South Caucasus region and the country’s commitment to continue “active participation” in the process of ensuring sustainable and stable development of the region.
In a meeting held within the framework of the 59th Munich Security Conference, the officials focused on security environment within the organisation’s geographic area, the situation in the Georgia’s Russia-occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and on the importance of OSCE engagement in the peaceful resolution of the conflict.
In his tweet after the meeting, Garibashvili expressed his gratitude for OSCEs “valuable engagement” in the peaceful conflict-resolution process in Georgia.
Delighted to meet w/@HelgaSchmid_SG in the frames of the @MunSecConf. Discussed recent developments in the region & importance of the involvement of @OSCE in ensuring peace & security. Grateful for OSCE's valuable engagement in the peaceful conflict-resolution process in ????????. pic.twitter.com/ejgR49r6Wc
— Irakli Garibashvili (@GharibashviliGe) February 18, 2023
The sides emphasised the importance of the Geneva International Discussions and the need to achieve progress on the key issues on the negotiation agenda, the Government Administration said, noting the need of unhindered functioning of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism [created in February 2009 as a result of the Geneva Discussions that followed the 2008 conflict in Georgia].
Georgia's successful cooperation with OSCE institutions was highlighted, and Garibashvili reaffirmed Georgia’s readiness to continue fruitful cooperation both with the organisation's secretariat and relevant institutions.
The Head of the Government thanked the Secretary General for supporting Georgia, stressing its importance for “actively keeping” the country’s topic on the organisation’s high-level political agenda.