Salome Zurabishvili met with PACE President Tini Cox in Strasbourg

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili met with President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe Tiny Cox in Strasbourg.

During the meeting, the PACE President reiterated his support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty, the presidential press service reports. The conversation of the parties also touched upon the importance of holding a summit of governments and heads of state of the Council of Europe in May 2023 in Reykjavik.

“We all agree that in this difficult period, everywhere in Europe, not only in Georgia, but also in my country, Holland, in countries large and small, democracy should not be taken for granted, as I said the day before on forum opening. We really need to take care of protecting democratic systems, because if we don’t protect democracy, we won’t protect our people, and as a result we will become very vulnerable. It is good that the president is optimistic that Georgia itself and other European countries have the capacity to improve in order to overcome polarization, ”Tiny Cox said.

The President of Georgia welcomed the forum in Reykjavik, stressed its importance in the context of supporting Georgia and Ukraine, and expressed her hope that this issue would be actively discussed at this forum.

The meeting also discussed the strengthening and development of cooperation between the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe and Georgia in the direction of supporting democratic reforms. The President stressed the importance of intensifying cooperation at the level of self-government bodies.

The importance of granting the status of a candidate member of the EU for the further progress of the country and the reduction of polarization in the country was emphasized, the PACE President once again expressed support for this process.

The President of Georgia invited Secretary General of the Parliamentary Assembly Despina Shatsivasiliu, who was present at the meeting with the President of the Parliamentary Assembly, to the Tbilisi International Women’s Conference founded on her initiative, which will be held in Tbilisi for the second time next year.