Usupashvili pays a visit to Athens
By Messenger Staff
Tuesday, July 2
“Orthodoxy is our national identity and value. We must be guided with these values in the decision-making process for peace and development,” Georgian Parliamentary Chairman, David Usupashvili, said in his welcoming speech delivered at the 20th anniversary of the Orthodox Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in Athens. He stressed the importance of the activities of the assembly, and he also delivered the greetings of Georgian Patriarch, Ilia II.
The parliamentary Chairman held a meeting with the Speaker of the Hellenic Parliament, Evangelos Meimarakis. The meeting was attended by MPs, Zakaria Kutsnashvili and Dimitri Khundadze, as well as the Ambassador of Georgia to Greece and Serbia, David Bakradze. The parties spoke about the role of the Orthodox Inter-Parliamentary Assembly and the importance of the meeting. Usupashvili spoke about ongoing reforms and integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions and also touched upon the issue of Georgian emigrants.
The Deputy-Head of the Georgia-Greece Friendship Group underlined the cultural relations between the two countries and cooperation within the scientific and educational spheres. Usupashvili thanked the Hellenic Parliament for its non-recognition of the occupied territories and its participation in the EUMM. He also touched upon the EaP Summit in November.
During the visit, the Speaker of the Parliament held a meeting with the Deputy-Speaker of the National Assembly of Serbia, Nenad Popovic. The parties spoke about the current problems in the two countries and underlined the non-recognition policy of the separatist regions.
“I have many friends in Georgia, I am well acquainted with Bidzina Ivanishvili, to whom I wish luck,” Popovic said, adding that the Parliament of Serbia keeps an eye on the ongoing processes in Georgia and added that the Serbian market is open for Georgian wine. He called upon the ambassadors for more active cooperation in the economic sphere. He noted that the Serbian Parliament will set up a friendship group with Georgia.
The Georgian delegation also met with the representatives of the Georgian Diaspora in Greece.
