President of Poland met with Georgian officials, visited the occupation line

By Natalia Kochiashvili

Friday, May 28

“Georgians, we are waiting for you in a united Europe, you are part of the EU,” President of Poland said.

Hosted by EUMM staff - with 17 Polish nationals of the mission - at the location, Duda received an assessment of the situation in the area that includes a crossing point over the boundary but has been closed for regular traffic since September 2019.

The President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili hosted the President of Poland Andrzej Duda at the Orbeliani Palace in Georgia. After the meeting, Zurabishvili said that Georgia has hopes for the future because it has a very old and very strong friend and partner in the EU in the form of Poland.

According to Zurabishvili, the meeting covered issues such as Poland's participation in the EU Monitoring Mission, the country's support in the EU and NATO integration process and more. She emphasized that Poland was the initiator of many stages such as Eastern Partnership. President underscored that Georgia went through association, visa liberalization, and free trade, but there is a need for more stages to reach the final plan.

Zurabishvili stated she shared the request to include the current situation in Georgia and Ukraine in the declaration of the upcoming NATO summit with the President of Poland.

The conversation also touched upon the fact that Poland will become the OSCE Chairman-in-Office next year. According to Zurabishvili, Poland is ready to provide assistance to Georgia to bring the issue of occupation to the forefront of OSCE political activities.

The presidents also discussed the bilateral relations between countries, emphasizing the direction of tourism.

On May 26, the President of Poland Andrzej Duda took part in the celebration of the Independence Day of Georgia. In addition, on May 27, he also met with the Prime Minister and the Speaker of Parliament. He also visited the occupation line, after which he said that the conditional border with the Tskhinvali region is something that politicians in all NATO member states needed to know in order to see clearly the true face of Russian policy.

During his visit the President of Poland also met members of the community displaced in the 2008 war and the subsequent borderization process to hear about the challenges facing the internally displaced persons.