Georgian FM to attend Visegrad Four talks

Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze will visit Slovakia, Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said. She added that Vashadze completed his visit to Egypt and left for Slovakia.

"The minister will hold bilateral meetings, including with his Slovakan counterpart,” he noted.

Vashadze will take part in the Visegrad Four talks that will discuss the results of the Eastern Partnership and future plans. He will also attend the 6th international Bratislava Global Security Forum.

"He will speak at both meetings,” Kalandadze said.

Bratislava will host the Visegrad Four talks, which will be attended by EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton, European Commissioner for Enlargement and Neighborhood Policy Stefan Fule, and German Vice Chancellor and Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle.

Slovakia will be represented at the meeting by Foreign Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi, and Polish Secretary of Foreign Ministry Nicholas Dovgelevich.

According to TASR, the foreign ministers of Armenia, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, as well as the deputy foreign minister of Belarus, will also arrive in Bratislava.

The Eastern Partnership Program is a Polish-Swedish initiative under the EU Neighborhood Policy aimed at improving EU relations with six former Soviet countries Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus, Ukraine and Armenia. The program envisages the allocation of 600 million euro to these countries until 2013 to strengthen state institutions, control borders and help small companies.

The program does not envisage opportunities for EU membership, but instead envisages facilitating the visa regime, energy cooperation, and the introduction of free trade zones. Small projects on student exchange, environmental protection, and energy supply will also be implemented.


/Trend/