Slovak President Visits Georgia to Open Joint Business Forum

TBILISI – Slovak President Andrej Kiska is making his first visit to Georgia to take part in the opening of the Georgia-Slovakia business forum and hold negotiations with his counterparts to boost economic relations between the two countries.

"Georgia is a small but dynamic country. It is located at a strategic crossroads and has always been a part of the wider European civilization. Our goal of further integration with Europe is irreversible, and I am pleased that Slovakia’s support is firm," Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili said in his welcoming speech.

“We have made steady progress in establishing European regulations and standards in Georgia. We are also pleased to have the steadfast support of Slovakia in pursuing our Euro-Atlantic ambitions," he added.

Kiska was quick to praise Georgia’s progress but stressed that the country needed to continue with its decade-long reform drive to achieve an across-the-board overhaul of its business and legal standards.

“For the Slovak people, the goal was clear - to become a member of NATO and the EU. Like all young nations, we wanted to achieve these goals as quickly as possible. Some of us thought that it would take at least 3-4 years; others thought that was too long. But history will show that it took us 12 years to be where we needed to be. The result has been that both NATO and the EU have brought us the security and stability that we longed for,” Kiska said.

Kiska pointed to Georgia’s upcoming parliamentary elections in October as another critical benchmark for the country.

"Georgia is at the beginning of a very long and difficult road. You will have to prove many things, and the upcoming parliamentary elections will be a further important test that you must pass," Kiska said, adding that Georgia’s enthusiasm for Euro-Atlantic integration is both “impressive and admirable” and that the EU is ready to implement its via liberalization regime for Georgian citizens.

Accompanied by a Slovakian business delegation, Kiska met with his Georgian counterpart Giorgi Margvelashvili at the Presidential Palace on Monday. Among other things, the two parties discussed recent developments in Georgia’s two Russian-backed breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Kiska’s visit to Georgia continues through to June 2.

By Tamar Svanidze
Edited by Nicholas Waller