PABSEC session held in Tbilisi
By Ana Robakidze
Thursday, December 19
The 42nd plenary session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) Organization was opened on December 18th in Tbilisi. The opening speech was delivered by the Chairperson of the Georgian Parliament Davit Usupashvili.
Over the last six months, Georgia chaired the BSEC parliament and now it will pass the chairmanship of the organization to Greece.
"The Georgian parliament is proud that over the past six months we have been chairing the assembly and contributed to its effective work," Usupashvili said in his speech. He stated that the BSEC was formed with the main goal of ensuring the peaceful, stable and secure development of the states of the Black Sea region, and the commitment of the parliaments of the member states is invaluable.
“The Black Sea region is composed by countries that very frequently share borders, share geographic locations, but not necessarily the same strategic objectives, which are in the best interest of their nations. But this organization has proved that despite differences in certain areas, all these countries are capable of cooperation to achieve their goals,” Usupashvili said.
Both Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili, as well as President Giorgi Margvelashvili attended the BSEC parliament session. At the meeting, the PM announced that active cooperation between the member states is very important. He also expressed the readiness of his country to serve as a corridor for cargo transportation between the Black Sea countries, as well as help to improve environmental safety and contribute to a deepening of trade relations between member countries.
In his speech PM Gharibashvili stressed the importance of developing democratic institutions and implementing democratic values in the country.
“Democratic institutions: human rights, rule of law and building-up democratic institutions are the milestone of the country’s development,” the PM stated. He also spoke about the EU integration process and said that Georgia is ready to cooperate with any state, regardless of its political aspirations.
Within the framework of the BSEC session, President Margvelashvili held a meeting with the Secretary General of the BSEC, Victor Tvircun. The two discussed the issues of establishing strong transport and energy relations amongst the organization member states. Margvelashvili confirmed at the meeting that Georgia will always be the first to support all major projects and regional initiatives that contribute to the development of the Black Sea region.
After the meeting, Tvircun said that he shares this common view with President Margvelashvili and the two agreed on most of the issues related to the future cooperation of the Black Sea region countries.
The BSEC session will be closed on December 19th.
