Kobakhidze Meets President of French Senate

Within the framework of the official working visit to France, Georgian Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze met the President of the French Senate, Gerard Larcher, in Paris.

The parties discussed bilateral relations and underlined dynamic inter-Parliamentary cooperation. They also emphasized the importance of close ties between the Friendship Groups and the exchange visits, including the cooperation in multilateral parliamentary formats.

Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations were one of the main topics of the meeting. The parties discussed the Dimitri Amilakhvari Georgian-French high level political dialogue format and noted its importance.

“We touched upon the political, economic and cultural aspects of our cooperation and noted the need for further enhancement of these relations... We also discussed the enhancement of inter-parliamentary relations”, Kobakhidze said.

Larcher stated the parties discussed the situation in the occupied territories of Georgia, EU integration of the country and potential of cooperation in the tourism sphere.

“We touched upon complex relations in the region – the Georgian population optimistic for EU integration on the one hand and the complications lingering in the region on the other,” he added, underlining that the current situation in the occupied regions serves as a background for optimism of the population on accession to the EU.

“We also discussed the positive outcomes that the pragmatic policy of the government can lead to and the potential of cooperation in the tourism sphere. We attach high importance to tourism as Georgia and its history are of great importance, to say nothing of its ancient history and riches,” Larcher said.

The President of the French Senate reminded all that the First Republic of Georgia and its government lived in the vicinity of Paris and that this historical fact should be used for positive development in cooperation in tourism.

By Thea Morrison