Georgian, Greek Presidents Mull Stronger Ties

During the two-day official visit to Greece, President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili and his Greek counterpart Prokopis Pavlopoulos agreed on strengthening political, economic and cultural ties.

The sides discussed future prospects of cooperation in energy, transport and infrastructure. The Greek party has emphasized the significance of Georgia, as the hub connecting Europe to Asia. Prospects of the Silk Road and transit opportunities opened up by Georgia for European counties were also discussed. Conversation also touched upon the Black Sea security issues.

As noted at the meeting, it is crucial to maintain Georgia’s positive dynamics on the path of European and Euro-Atlantic integration.
The parties underlined it is necessary to renew the bilateral cooperation agreement in the field of education. The importance of protection of cultural and historical heritage, including those in the occupied territories has also been underlined.

Before holding extended meeting, the two presidents had a face-to-face meeting as well. Margvelashvili thanked his counterpart for supporting Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and Euro-Atlantic integration.
"Georgian delegation members and I attach great significance to this visit. I would like to thank you, the Greek people and the Hellenic state for the support that we have been receiving over the years,” he stated.

Georgian president underlined long-lasting and friendly relations between the two countries and invited Greek president to Georgia to attend celebrations dedicated to the 100th anniversary of independence on May 26.

“Today we aspire toward the European and Euro-Atlantic space, part of which is Greece and we are grateful for Greece for opening up many opportunities in this regard. I see dynamic development of bilateral relations between our countries and I would like to once again thank you for this positive trend,” Margvelashvili stated.

President Pavlopoulos, for his part, underlined Margvelashvili’s contribution to development of Georgia-Greece relationship.

"Attitude of Greece towards Georgia is based on two main axes: the first is our strong and unconditional support of Georgia's integration into the European space; the second is our support of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity and peaceful solution of problems regarding Abkhazia and South Ossetia, according to the UN requirements. We support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” he added.

I’ve invited my #Greek counterpart, President #Pavlopoulos to join us for the celebration of #Georgia’s 100th Anniversary of Independence on May 26 in #Tbilisi. pic.twitter.com/C4QSQl1ty2

— President Of Georgia (@MargvelashviliG) February 8, 2018

By Thea Morrison