Swedish Foreign Minister Visits Georgia

Swedish Foreign Minister Ann Linde is paying a working visit to Tbilisi on October 1-2, where she held meetings with high-ranking  Georgian officials, including President Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia, and Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, as well as the civil society representatives.

As reported by the Swedish Government’s press office, the key topics on the agenda include conflicts in Georgia, the ongoing hostilities over Nagorno-Karabakh, and the upcoming October 31 parliamentary elections. Sweden’s forthcoming OSCE chairmanship, set to start on January 1, 2021, is also discussed during the meetings.

Commenting on the visit of his Swedish colleague, Foreign Minister Davit Zalkaliani underscored the significance of the visit ahead of Sweden’s takeover of the OSCE Chairmanship.

“It will be essential for the organization under Sweden’s chairmanship to be particularly actively engaged in resolving critical situations and problems such as conflicts in the OSCE region,” Georgian FM noted.

According to Minister Zalkaliani, during her meeting with FM Linde, he emphasized the need for an even more active OSCE engagement in Geneva International Discussions, aimed at advancing security situation on the ground, the return of IDPs, and the illegal “borderization” process on the political agenda.

Addressing the ongoing conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh, Minister Zalkaliani introduced to his colleague PM Giorgi Gakharia’s initiative on the readiness of Tbilisi to facilitate the peace process between the conflicting parties.

During the meeting with PM Gakharia, the parties discussed the prospects of cooperation, both in bilateral and multilateral formats, including in frames of Sweden’s upcoming OSCE chairmanship, the Georgian Prime Minister’s office reported.

According to the same report, Prime Minister Gakharia also expressed Georgia’s will to secure full access to the European Single Market.

Speaking of the upcoming general election, Georgian PM pledged to hold October 31 parliamentary polls in “a free, impartial, transparent and democratic environment,” Georgian Government administration reported.

The Swedish Foreign Minister also plans to visit the office of the EU Monitoring Mission of Georgia.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)