In Tbilisi Norway’s FM Hails Partnership with Georgia

Georgia “can rely” on the support of Nordic and Baltic states, including in the context of NATO Warsaw summit next year, Norway’s Foreign Minister Børge Brende said in Tbilisi.

Brende, who visited Georgia on September 4, met Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili; PM Irakli Garibashvili; Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli; newly appointed Foreign Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, and other officials. He also visited administrative boundary line with breakaway South Ossetia in the village of Khurvaleti.

The Norwegian Foreign Minister said that at a meeting in Copenhagen on September 2-3 Nordic and Baltic foreign ministers reiterated that support for Georgia and its sovereignty is “of utmost importance.”

“You can… rely on our support – on the support of Nordic and Baltic countries, also in the run-up to the Warsaw summit next year. We are clearly committed to make sure that the NATO-Georgia Commission is [further] strengthened,” he said at a news conference after meeting with his Georgian counterpart.

Noting importance of opening of the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), he said that it is “sending a strong signal.”

One of the six NATO officers, who currently lead the JTEC along with eight Georgian officers, is from Norway.

The Georgian and Norwegian foreign ministers signed an agreement between the two countries on the facilitation of the issuance of visas.

Foreign Minister Brende said that Norway and Georgia have “great collaboration and partnership.”

“We have increased our partnership with Georgia over the years and we will continue to do so,” he added.

“If you look at Georgia in this region, I think, it is very impressive what you have achieved on democracy, rule of law… I am not saying that there are no further reforms that one should undergo,” Foreign Minister Brende said.

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