Georgia’s Prime Minister busy in Belgium

Georgia’s Prime Minister is scheduled to have a busy three days during his official visit in Brussels this week.

Deepening the bilateral relationships between Georgia and its European partners will be on Irakli Garibashvili’s mind during his February 3-5 visit to Belgium, when he will be occupied by meeting with European Commission high officials and the head of NATO.

The meetings will kick off with consultations between the Commissioner for European Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule and President of European Commission Jose Manuel Barroso before the parties make a joint statement to the media.

Garibashvili’s agenda noted he would attend a private meeting with the Commissioner for European Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström, European Energy Commissioner Gunther Ottinger and President of the European Council Herman Van Rompuy.

The PM expressed hope that the forthcoming visit would demonstrate the mutual desire of the parties to give the bilateral relations even greater dynamics and intensify the cooperation and assistance of the EU in implementation of democratic transformations and socio-economic reforms in Georgia.

"I assume the European Commission and NATO leaders will provide us with indications about how to accelerate the process of Georgia’s EU and NATO integration,”|/ Garibashvili said in Munich before heading to Belgium.

In the framework of Garibashvili’s visit, a meeting with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton is planned for February 5.

Garibashvili will attend NATO-Georgia Commission session and will deliver a speech at Egmont Institute Conference and present Georgia’s plans of defence opportunity development.

Georgia’s Minister of Defence, Irakli Alasania, said: "Georgia will be an active ally of the post International Security Assistance Forces (ISAF) for providing Afghanistan and international security. We also discuss the prospects of becoming part of EU lead security assistances.”|/

The Prime Minister’s office said Garibashvili would also meet NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and was invited to a working lunch with representatives of EU institutions.

In addition to his official meetings, Georgia’s Prime Minister will be interviewed by foreign media outlets, such as TV BBC, French International Broadcasting TV Company FRANCE 24, REUTERS, EURONEWS, WSJ, and LE MONDE.