President of Georgia holds high-level meetings at UNGA 74
By Tsotne Pataraia
Thursday, September 26
Within the framework of her visit to New York, President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili met with high-officials of major international organizations and her colleagues from several countries.
On September 25th, UN Secretary-General Antonio Gutierrez received President of Georgia Salome Zourabichvili. Following the report released by the presidential press service, the main topic of discussion between the sides was the issue of de-occupation of Georgia and the situation in the occupied regions of Georgia.
According to Kakha Imnadze, Head of Georgia's Permanent Mission to the UN, the UN Secretary-General is well aware of the situation in Georgia as he has served as UNHCR for many years and has personally visited conflict regions. Kakha Imnadze also added that the Secretary-General expressed his readiness for the UN to be more actively involved in the settlement of these issues:
“They are also discussing what else they can do to find a solution. The Geneva format is important, but it requires more active work and a more creative approach. In this regard, the UN and its offices are ready to support us,” Imnadze said.
Zurabishvili also commented about relations with the UN via Twitter, where she emphasized many areas of cooperation between the UN and Georgia: “Georgia works closely with the UN in a large field of areas,” reads the tweet. Georgian president also confirmed her readiness to join the UN campaign against sexual violence in the world.
On September 24 within the framework of the UN General Assembly, the President of Georgia also met with President of the European Council Donald Tusk where the sides discussed Georgia's European integration process. Apart from President of the European Council, Zourabichvili held discussions with the President of Kazakhstan, Kasim-Jomart Tokayevich, the President of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales and the President of Iraq Baram Salih.
The main issue to be discussed at the General Assembly of the UN this year is the mobilization of multilateral efforts to eradicate poverty, quality education, new climate action, and inclusion.
Salome Zourabichvili is Georgia's first president since 2013 to deliver a speech before the UN. In recent years, the Prime Minister has been representing Georgia at the UN General Assembly, as Georgian Dream officials believed that under the parliamentary model of governance this authority no longer belonged to the President and was within the competence of the Prime Minister. Accordingly, as a result of the decision made by the ruling party “Georgian Dream” (GD), former President Giorgi Margvelashvili has never been allowed to speak at the UN General Assembly. This position of GD members has changed only after Salome Zourabichvili took the presidency.
