Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze heads to Lithuania for first official visit
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Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze is getting ready for his first official visit to Lithuania, where he will head on January 21 to meet with Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite, Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis and university students.
Announcing the visit, PM Bakhtadze termed Lithuania "friendly nation … that [supports] Georgia and protects [our] interests on every international platform. I want to thank our friends, and I’m confident that the upcoming visit will result in even strong bonds between our two countries”.
Last year, the Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani visited Lithuania and held talks with his counterpart about political, trade and economic relations.
The Lithuanian parliament adopted a resolution on the 10th anniversary of the Russian-Georgian War of August 2008, condemning Russia’s illegal occupation and military activity on Georgian territory.
In August 2018 Lithuania also has set migration restrictions for people who have violated the rights of Georgian citizens in the Georgian occupied regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) since the 1990s.
Moreover, in honour of the 100th anniversary of the birth of the First Republic of Georgia, Lithuania replaced the official name of Georgia in Lithuanian, Gruzia [of Russian origin], with Sakartvelo – the name for the country in Georgia.
After Lithuania recently changed the official name of Georgia in the Lithuanian language from Gruzija to Sakartvelo, the Georgian embassy has placed a new sign on its premises reading ‘Sakartvelo Ambasada’, or Embassy of Georgia in Lithuanian.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has held high-level meetings in Lithuania to further enhance political, economic, trade and other ties between the nations which cooperate closely for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration.
Georgia is the main trade partner for Lithuania in the South Caucasus region, Lithuanian Prime Minister Saulius Skvernelis said today. Welcoming the Georgian government’s strong commitment to the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Skvernelis said Lithuania considers Georgia one of its active and reliable partners.
"Lithuania stands by Georgia”, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Linas Linkevicius said in Georgian in his video address released today that was devoted to 10 years since the Georgian-Russian war.
"Our special relations are proved by the milestones celebrated last year - the 100th anniversary from the establishment of the First Democratic Republic of Georgia and the 100th Anniversary of Regained Statehood of Lietuva. Besides, our nations are now referred to by their authentic names - Sakartvelo and Lietuva,” Bakhtadze said, during apress conference with his Lithuanian counterpart Saulius Skvernelis.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze stated that his country is eager to share in the Lithuanian experience in terms of start-ups.
The new President of Lithuania Gitanas Nausėda said that his country “consistently supports” sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia and condemns resumption of “borderisation” process on occupied territories. Gitanas Nausėda made remarks during his meeting with the Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, who paid a visit to Vilnius on August 22.