Georgia’s Kvirikashvili Meets CoE Secretary General

TBILISI – Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili met the Council of Europe (CoE) Secretary General, Thorbjorn Jagland, who arrived in Georgia on January 30 to hold bilateral meetings with Georgian leaders and officials.

Prime Minister's Press Office reports that Georgia-CoE cooperation, the situation in Georgia's occupied territories, the engagement of the Council of Europe in protecting human rights and trust-building in the conflict zones were the main topics discussed at the meeting.

The discussion also involved Georgia's constitutional amendments, judiciary reform and the Secretary General positively assessed Georgia's progress in democratic reforms.

Kvirikashvili thanked Thorbjorn Jagland for supporting Georgia’s ongoing reforms and underlined that the government values "Conflict in Georgia", a consolidated report by the Secretary General of the Council of Europe, in which the security, human rights, and humanitarian situation in Georgia's occupied territories are described.

Moreover, the parties discussed the 2016-2019 Action Plan of the Council of Europe for Georgia, which includes effectively ensuring rule of law, human rights protection, and trust-building in Georgia.

The meeting at the Governmental Administration building was attended by Cristian Urse, Head of the Georgian Office of the Council of Europe, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Victor Dolidze, the Prime Minister's Foreign Adviser Tedo Japaridze and Georgia's Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe, Constantine Korkelia.

By Thea Morrison