Events

MINSK, 21 December (BelTA) – The President of Georgia may pay an official visit to Belarus in 2017. The matter was discussed at a meeting between Belarus’ Minister of Foreign Affairs Vladimir Makei and Georgia President Giorgi Margvelashvili on 20 December, BelTA learned from the press service of the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

“The parties stressed that the relations between Belarus and Georgia have always been friendly and open. It was noted that the bilateral cooperation was promoted by high and top-level contacts in 2015. The parties also discussed the issues related to the organization of the official visit of the President of Georgia to Belarus in 2017,” the press service said.

According to the Belarusian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Georgian President praised Belarus’ achievements in the agricultural sector and showed interest in Belarus’ agrarian practices. The intergovernmental Belarusian-Georgian commission on economic cooperation agreed to speed up the implementation of a joint project on the production of low-power tractors in Georgia and provide assistance in training agrarian specialists at the Belarusian institutions of higher education. The President of Georgia was apprised of Belarus’ cooperation with other countries in the construction of agro-towns.

The parties also reached an agreement to continue constructive dialogue and support each other within the EU’s Eastern Partnership initiative.

At the meeting with newly-elected Chairman of the Parliament Irakli Kobakhidze, Vladimir Makei hailed the organizational level of the Georgian parliamentary campaign in October 2016. A suggestion was made to set up groups of friendship in the parliaments of the two countries in order to enhance inter-parliamentary cooperation both at the bilateral level and within different international parliamentary dimensions.

Vladimir Makei also met with his Georgian counterpart Mikheil Janelidze to discuss the current bilateral agenda, regional security and cooperation in international organizations. The parties noted that the opening of the Belarusian Embassy in Georgia will raise bilateral cooperation to a new level. “Mutual interest was emphasized in the implementation of projects to develop energy, transport and logistics corridors, including the participation in the Silk Road Economic Belt,” the ministry’s press service said.

An agreement was reached to organize a visit of representatives of the Belarusian Hi-Tech Park to Georgia in 2017 as part of an exchange of IT specialists. The parties talked over the possibility of Belarus’ Culture Days in Georgia in 2017.

At the meeting with Catholicos-Patriarch Ilia II of All Georgia, the Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs noted that the contacts and ties between the Belarusian Exarchate and the Georgian Apostolic Autocephalous Orthodox Church have been steadily developing and strengthening, which contribute to the spiritual rapprochement of the peoples of Belarus and Georgia.

The head of the Georgian Orthodox Church commended Belarus’ social policy and Minsk’ peaceful efforts in the international arena.

On 20 December the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Belarus and Georgia took part in a ceremony to inaugurate the Belarusian embassy in Tbilisi. Attending the event were representatives of the President’s Administration, the government and Parliament of Georgia, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tbilisi City Hall, diplomatic service, and businessmen. Vladimir Makei noted that the opening of the Belarusian Embassy is a new stage in the history of bilateral relations that will promote further expansion of ties and mutually beneficial cooperation between Belarus and Georgia.

The Belarusian Minister of Foreign Affairs laid flowers at the Heroes Monument honoring all those who died protecting the territorial integrity of Georgia.