Ambassador Beruchashvili on UK-Georgia Relations 2018

Exclusive interview

GEORGIA TODAY sat down with H.E. Tamar Beruchashvili, the Ambassador of Georgia to the UK, for our annual catch-up on the latest on British-Georgia relations.

“This year is a very significant one for my country as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Georgia’s Independence and the first Democratic Republic,” the Ambassador told us. “Some wonder how Georgia, literally within two decades, has transformed itself from a Soviet country into the ‘Role Model’ of democracy for the region. It was the first Georgian Democratic Republic 100 years ago that laid a solid foundation for our modern Georgian state and society.”

The UK-Georgia diplomatic relations date back to the time when Foreign Secretary Lord Curzon appointed brilliant diplomat and connoisseur of Georgia Sir Oliver Wardrop as the UK’s first Chief Commissioner to the Transcaucasus in 1919. Sir Oliver Wardrop played a very important role in convincing the UK to recognize Georgia's independence in 1920. He became actively engaged in mobilizing much needed support to deal with political and economic challenges. This year also marks the very significant outcome of Georgia-UK relations in all dimensions as well as a new beginning of Georgia’s future cooperation after Brexit.

Brexit

“With regard to Brexit, we respect the democratic choice of the UK population and as Britain will forge a new positive role in the world, Georgia is ready to use every opportunity to further deepen and widen our relations,” the Ambassador confirmed. “We welcome an outward-looking, flexible and dynamic UK and are keen to actively cooperate on strategic issues of common interest.”

Georgia is in the process of developing a bilateral legal base between Georgia and the UK after the Brexit.

“The Georgian side is to prepare a draft Agreement on Strategic Partnership and Cooperation between Georgia and the United Kingdom, including a comprehensive free trade component covering all priority areas such as political dialogue, defense and security, economy and trade, innovations, the fight against crime, education and culture, etc.

“In view of the Brexit and common European and global challenges, we concentrate our efforts to further deepening and widening our cooperation in all priority directions, bringing our countries and peoples closer,” the Ambassador emphasized.

On the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue

On 8 November 2018, Tbilisi hosted the Fifth Round of the Georgia-UK Wardrop Strategic Dialogue, an annual political framework, headed by Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia H.E. David Zalkaliani from the Georgian side and Minister of State for Europe and the Americas the Rt Hon Sir Alan Duncan MP from the UK side. The dialogue focuses on a wide range of bilateral issues, such as political dialogue, cooperation in defense and security, trade and economy, education, culture, people-to-people contacts and other fields.

“The United Kingdom is a leading strategic partner and devoted supporter of the Georgian sovereignty and territorial integrity as well as our European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We are united by shared values, have common interests of international security and stability and face common challenges,” the Ambassador noted. “In the Fifth Round of the Dialogue, we identified the key priorities of our cooperation to shape our post-Brexit cooperation, which are reflected in the Joint Communiqué.”

The UK’s political support to the process of peaceful resolution of the conflict with the Russian Federation and to the reconciliation process and confidence-building has a crucial importance for Georgia and the regional stability. The Ambassador told us that the UK has confirmed its commitment to “remain vocal” in the international arena on the need for a peaceful resolution of the Russia-Georgia conflict.

“We also appreciate the inclusion of the human rights situation in Georgia’s occupied regions in the FCO’s human rights and democracy report, which identifies severe human rights violations and Russia’s actions in the Georgian regions. The UK commended the determination and crucial role of the Georgian Government, as well as Georgian society to further advance the democratic consolidation and economic development of the country, including on education, inclusive growth and judicial reform.

“In parallel to the intergovernmental dialogue, the parliamentary and expert dimensions of the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue gained new momentum. Within the framework of the Wardrop Strategic Dialogue Parliamentary Dimension, on 24-31 May, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia – APPG in the UK Parliament visited Georgia for the second time, with a comprehensive program and Joint Communiqué adopted at the end of the visit.

“As we speak on our parliamentary cooperation, we very much appreciate the strong voice of the UK Parliament, having regular debates on our region, including Georgia,” she said. “On the occasion of 100th anniversary of Georgia’s Independence, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Georgia Mr Jonathan Djanogly tabled the Early Day Motion on Georgia that, along with successful reforms, also clearly underlines the occupation of Georgian territories.”

Defence and Security Cooperation

Georgia and the UK have a long-term and successful cooperation in the areas of defense and security, sharing the goal of preserving peace and stability around the world. These spheres and future plans are reflected in the Joint Communique of the Georgia-UK Wardrop Strategic Dialogue.

“We discussed a wide-range of challenges related to external interference and election meddling, propaganda, organized crime, cyber security and crisis management,” the Ambassador told us. “Georgia and the UK agreed to maintain close ties and to continue to develop the partnership. In this regard, the exchange of information between the respective agencies is of utmost importance. We recognized terrorism and cyber security as a common threat and stressed the importance of joint efforts in this regard.”

The signing of the MoU on Cyber Security between the Government of the UK and the Government of Georgia functions as a signal of mutual commitment to ongoing cooperation in cyber security, as does the start of negotiations on the exchange of classified information with regard to responding to mutual threats and challenges.

“I would like to also mention our cooperation in the crisis management system. We already have concrete results and our British colleagues will further continue their efforts to sophisticate the Georgian crisis management system. We also welcome that our British partners will actively participate in the elaboration process of the concept of the Security Council of Georgia. All these achievements, efforts and as well as future plans are underlined in the Joint Communiqué that is basis for our plans for next year.”

Centenary of the First Democratic Republic (1918-1921)

This year Georgia has been celebrating the Centenary of the First Democratic Republic.

“The Republic was founded on the most advanced ideas and values of that time and therefore the anniversary carries a significant importance for our country. Georgia was one among a very few countries in which elections were held by universal suffrage and gender equality was promoted,” the Ambassador informed us. “The founders of the Georgian Democratic Republic protected and promoted values and high standards that at that time were controversial even in Europe, such as the abolition of the death penalty, and recognition of prisoners’ and other human rights.

“Together with our partner British organizations, we hosted and co-organized a series of events to raise awareness about various aspects of the First Republic. As a result, conferences in London, Oxford and Sevenoaks, exhibitions, a book launch and discussions generated much interest and ensured the high involvement of the British political and academic circles in the process,” she said.

Cultural diplomacy

“Cultural links between Georgia and the UK date back to the early days of the First Georgian Democratic Republic. More than 100 years ago, Oliver and Marjory Wardrop laid a solid foundation for British-Georgian cultural ties. It was a time when, through her translation of the epic poem by the medieval Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli “Knight in the Panther’s Skin,” the translator and great connoisseur of Georgian culture and literature Marjory Wardrop brought this masterpiece to the British readers,” the Ambassador noted.

“The exemplary cultural bond between the two countries becomes even stronger each year. In addition to the rich cultural program throughout these recent years, featuring collaborative events like the research-oriented conference on Georgian polyphonic music at the British Library, the seminar-discussion about Shakespeare and Rustaveli heritage, the first ever book on Georgia published by the Publishing House of the University of Oxford ‘Georgia: A Cultural Journey Through the Wardrop Collection,’ this year has been marked with even more joint projects,” she said.

The Royal Asiatic Society, which published Wardrop’s first translation of the ‘Knight in the Panther’s Skin,’ recently hosted the launch of the English translations of 20th century renowned Georgian writers ‘Unlocking the Door: Writing from Georgia’. The new translations of Georgian writer Vazha-Pshavela is yet another collaborative project that will present the best of Georgian literature to British readers.

The Embassy of Georgia continues to support academic and cultural visits to Georgia and awareness-raising about the country. With the Embassy’s active involvement earlier this year, Georgia was selected by the international relations societies of the London School of Economics and Political Science and the University of Westminster for their foreign trips with the aim to learn more about the implemented and ongoing reforms, the current stage in Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration, the country’s economic development, occupation of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali, and about Georgia’s history and culture.

Georgian theater and cinema continue to play active role in strengthening cultural cooperation. In May, the 5th London Georgian Film Festival took place, featuring award-winning new Georgian films as well as classics already well known and appreciated by the British audience. In the frames of the Film Festival, the Embassy hosted an exhibition of the unique film posters from 1920 - 2000.

“Georgian theater once again had an acclaimed appearance at the world’s largest Edinburgh Festival Fringe this year. ‘Our Theater,’ with its performance ‘Paradiso’ successfully built on the rich records of Georgia’ past participation at The Fringe dating back to the 1970s,” the Ambassador told us.

Twinning Cities

“We attach particular importance to people-to-people contacts between our nations in which twinning partnerships enjoy a long and fruitful tradition,” she added. “The twinned cities (Bristol-Tbilisi; Newport-Kutaisi; Newcastle-Akhaltsikhe) have a special role in bringing our communities together. This year, we marked the 30th anniversary of twinning between Bristol and Tbilisi with special events in both cities promoting business, cultural and educational ties, including exchange of visits at the local authority, business and cultural level. We decided to start this celebration with the official opening of the Honorary Consulate of Georgia in Bristol and South West England, with the first Honorary Consul of Georgia, longstanding Chairman of the Bristol-Tbilisi Twinning Association, Mr. Derek Pickup, an honorary citizen of Tbilisi and a great friend of my country.”

Find out what the Ambassador had to say about trade relations in next Tuesday’s Georgia Today Business edition.

By Katie Ruth Davies