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Georgian Speaker: I expressed our deep gratitude towards Romania for supporting Georgia's sovereignty
Georgia's Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili stressed on Monday, after the meeting with President of the Romanian Senate Nicolae Ciuca, the importance of the strategic partnership between the two countries, which encompasses all dimensions of mutual interest, including at the parliamentary level, highlighting the Joint Declaration that the two dignitaries signed on this occasion, which will bring "positive results" for both countries.
"During the meeting I expressed our deep gratitude towards Romania for the firm and irreversible support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for Georgia's EU and NATO membership. Friendship between our countries took origin centuries ago and is based on cultural values emanating from our strong common Christian heritage. These shared values have later transformed into a Strategic Partnership that encompasses all dimensions of mutual interest including at the parliamentary level, with a special focus on contacts between friendship groups and sectoral committees. We expressed our readiness and commitment to further boosting ties between our legislative bodies. To promote the achievement of this goal we have just signed the Joint Declaration of the Senate of Romania and the Parliament of Georgia that we believe will bring positive results to both countries," Shalva Papuashvili pointed out.
The Georgian guest also highlighted the special importance of the Romanian-Georgian partnership to ensuring connectivity at the Black Sea.
"We highlighted the special importance of Georgia - Romania partnership to ensure Black Sea connectivity, to bolster European resilience and energy independence during current challenging times. The Black Sea project, the Black Sea submarine electricity cable, is a great example having paramount potential to help the European Union, including Romania, diversify its energy resources and promote clean energy transition," the Georgian Parliament Speaker said.
Shalva Papuashvili also referred to the progress Georgia registered on the path of the accession to the European Union and NATO, showing that Romania has been "a leading voice supporting Georgia's European future."
"In the framework of the meeting I also talked about Georgia's progress on the EU and NATO membership path and highlighted the importance of the next strategic decisions to advance Georgia on this road. Romania has been a leading voice supporting Georgia's European future and nowadays we expect similar leadership in support of Georgia similar to Ukraine and the Republic of Moldova. It would assist us and the entire region to successfully tackle the geopolitical shadows of the past and firmly embark on the European future. We are grateful for a warm welcome here in Senate and also highly appreciate each step and statement of the Romanian side in support of Georgia. May the legacy of our common ancestor Anthim the Iberian guide us on the road of our common future of peace and prosperity," Papuashvili concluded.
In turn, Chairman of the Romanian Senate Nicolae Ciuca on Monday said, after meeting visiting President of the Georgian Parliament Shalva Papuashvili, that Romania is still a supporter of Georgia's European agenda.
"The visit reflects the excellent parliamentary relationships between Romania and Georgia, as well as their political and governmental relationships. In my one-on-one meeting and also my meeting with my fellow lawmakers, I reconfirmed that Romania is a supporter of Georgia's European agenda. Romania was the first to ratify the association agreement between Georgia and the European Union in 2014, and in my meeting with Mr Chairman I emphasised the importance of the Romanian Parliament's declaration to this association and wanted us to renew the declaration," Ciuca said after meeting Papuashvili.
He also mentioned "the window of opportunity that exists at this moment for Romania to be able to support the approach that Georgia, together with Moldova and Ukraine made in the sense of opening negotiations and, thus, there is the expectation that in December there should be a positive decision in that regard at the European summit."
Ciuca also mentioned "the joint declaration by which both national parliaments show their mutual support for strengthening parliamentary co-operation, underlining the role of parliamentary diplomacy and the relationships between the parliamentary groups in Romania and Georgia in strengthening co-operation between the two countries."
"The European agenda is the main axis of the discussions we had and will continue to have. We emphasised (...)aspects of an economic nature (...), aspects that reveal the role of connectivity between countries in the Caspian Sea area and those in the Black Sea area, when it comes to commercial exchanges, energy security and, why not, the project that calls for energy connectivity through a submarine cable and a digital cable. These are projects that we have agreed that we have to follow and move on to the stage of implementation (...) These projects really represent a benefit not only for our economies, but for the economies of the countries in the region and for the whole of Europe as well, as they were pledged and designed from the beginning," Ciuca also said.
He added that Romania will continue to support Georgia and highlighted the discussions on the parliamentary, diplomatic, economic and cultural relationships between the two countries.
Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili on Monday also met interim Speaker of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies Alfred Simonis, and he was also scheduled to participate in a plenary session of the Senate and meet Romanian Foreign Minister Luminita Odobescu.