President Nausėda to PM Gakharia: Lithuania Cares about Democratic Future of Georgia

Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda held meeting at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on January 21. Lithuanian President’s office reported that Nausėda expressed support for Georgia’s efforts to build a democratic society and integrate into transatlantic and EU structures, while noting that “Lithuania cares about the democratic future of Georgia.”

In this regard, President Nausėda said “we regret that last year the Georgian parliament failed to adopt amendments to the Constitution that would have consolidated democracy in the country. We encourage seeking consensus among all parties involved in the political process and not giving opportunity for external forces to use disagreements between the position and opposition to create instability in Georgia and the region.”

Lithuanian President told Prime Minister Gakharia that his country supported and will continue its support to Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. In this respect, Nausėda noted that “we condemn Russia’s demonstration of power and the continuing occupation of the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. We are raising the issue at international level because we do not want Europe to forget this act of aggression in the face of new conflict zones emerging in the world.”

President Nausėda hailed Georgia’s efforts to implement reforms and seek integration with the West, and further stressed Lithuania’s readiness to share its experience of “delivering effective reform results.”

According to Lithuanian President’s Communication Group, the two leaders also discussed bilateral economic relations, pledging to deepen ties. It was noted that Georgia remains one of Lithuania’s main trading partners in the South Caucasus region.

On his part, PM Gakharia hailed Lithuania as Georgia’s close friend and ally, and stressed that “we particularly value your strong support in the process of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration.”

According to the PM Gakharia’s Press Office, the two leaders also spoke of the upcoming Eastern Partnership summit that is planned to be held in Brussels in June.

Georgian PM’s Press Office further noted that the sides positively evaluate high-level political dialogue between the two countries, the dynamics of high level visits, sectoral cooperation, people-to-people and cultural ties. The Georgian Prime Minister also welcomed “doubling the number of visitors from Lithuania.”

Georgian Finance Minister Ivane Machavariani, as well as Georgian Prime Minister’s advisor for International Affairs Irakli Chikovani also attended the meeting.

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