News

On 7 December in Vilnius, Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Asta Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and the delegation of the Georgian Parliament, which is paying a visit to Lithuania, discussed the strengthening of inter-parliamentary relations between Lithuania and Georgia, negotiations for an EU-Georgia Association Agreement and opportunities to expand bilateral economic ties.

The delegation of the Georgian Parliament is led by Chairman of the Regional Policy, Self-Government and Mountainous Regions Committee of the Georgian Parliament Vakhtang Balavadze.

At the meeting, the Foreign Vice-Minister encouraged the promotion of cooperation between the Seimas (Parliament) and working groups of the Georgian Parliament.

Representatives from Georgia informed the Foreign Vice-Minister about an agreement that was signed on 6 December at the Seimas (Parliament) of Lithuania regarding future cooperation between the Regional Policy, Self-Government and Mountainous Regions Committee of the Parliament of Georgia and the Committee on State Administration and Local Authorities of the Seimas (Parliament).

The meeting focused on the launching of the negotiations for an EU-Georgia Association Agreement in July, which would define the cooperation in the areas of foreign and security policy, economy, trade, transport, energy, environment protection, agriculture, education, health care and culture.

Foreign Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė and the Georgian parliamentarians also discussed Georgia’s preparation for the opening of the negotiations on a deep and comprehensive free trade agreement with the EU.

This agreement would be an essential part of the EU-Georgia Association Agreement and would enable creating a stable, secure and mutually beneficial commercial business environment. In this context, the Vice-Minister informed the parliamentarians about the Lithuanian experts’ project of assistance to Georgia, which would be implemented in 2011 under the EU Technical Assistance and Information Exchange programme by the think tank group of the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The Georgian parliamentarians thanked Lithuania for the implementation of ongoing development cooperation projects in Georgia. The parliamentarians conveyed to the Foreign Vice-Minister the acknowledgements of the community of Kobuleti, a town in the region of Ajaria, for financing the reconstruction of a youth recreation center. Foreign Vice-Minister A.Skaisgirytė Liauškienė assured the members of the Georgian delegation that Lithuania intended to continue providing assistance to Georgia.

The Vice-Minister called for the development of Lithuanian-Georgian trade relations. Although the bilateral trade is growing, Georgia still occupies only the 58th place according to the intensity of bilateral economic relations.