The Presidents of Georgia and Slovakia hold a joint briefing

Following the meeting between the President of Georgia, Mikheil Kavelashvili and the President of Slovakia, Peter Pellegrini, a joint briefing was held.

Mikheil Kavelashvili expressed his gratitude to the President of Slovakia for the warm hospitality and meaningful dialogue, noting that Slovakia is one of Georgia's closest allies and friends.

"I am pleased to be in the Slovak Republic on an official visit - a country with a rich history and one of Georgia's closest allies and friends.
I thank President Peter Pellegrini for his invitation, warm hospitality, and the meaningful and interesting dialogue.
Slovakia has always been, and continues to be, a steadfast supporter of Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, which is sincerely appreciated by both myself and the entire Georgian nation.

Our countries are united by a shared vision based on the promotion of peace, stability, and the protection of national interests.
Against the backdrop of acute global challenges and geopolitical risks, solidarity and close cooperation among countries that share common values and approaches acquire particular significance.
In order to maintain the positive momentum of bilateral cooperation between our countries, it is essential to continue holding high-level meetings. It was in this context that we discussed specific plans and priorities for the near future.

"We also discussed the broad potential for sectoral cooperation, encompassing trade and economic relations, investment attraction, tourism, defense and security, as well as culture, education and youth affairs.
It is particularly noteworthy that, since January of this year, direct air travel between Kutaisi and Bratislava has commenced, further bringing our peoples closer together and facilitating increased tourism both to Slovakia and to Georgia," stated Mikheil Kavelashvili.

As Mikheil Kavelashvili noted, during the meeting with the President of Slovakia, he once again emphasized the particular importance of Georgia as a key hub in the Middle Corridor in today's geopolitical context.

"During our meeting, we emphasized that in a complex and rapidly changing geopolitical environment, Georgia's growing potential as a key hub in the Middle Corridor acquires even greater significance. My colleague received this very positively, recognizing Georgia's role in the South Caucasus. The Middle Corridor cannot be imagined without Georgia, and my colleague also noted that this represents enormous potential for our country as well as for our neighboring states. The peace policies we pursue further demonstrate that these opportunities are expanding, and an increasing number of countries are showing interest in focusing more attention on the region. This will require enhanced efforts between our countries to better realize the potential that Georgia holds as a pivotal node in the Middle Corridor.

Promoting civilizational dialogue and connectivity between Europe, Asia and the broader Middle East region is at the forefront of our agenda and constitutes one of the main vectors of our foreign policy," stated Mikheil Kavelashvili.

According to the President of Georgia, the discussion at the meeting also addressed the relationship between Georgia and the European Union.




"The European Union was created on an idea of peace, grounded in economic development, equality, justice and mutual respect. Unfortunately, at this stage, European bureaucracy often makes mistakes in its dealings with Georgia. Our country remains committed to these values, and Slovakia serves as an exemplary model, consistently upholding these principles. Our people view Slovakia's positioning within the EU with hope, as we have once again expressed our strong desire to become a member of the European Union, while emphasizing that our national interests, sovereignty and principles of justice must be respected. We have not paused negotiations and continue to affirm that we are always ready for fair and constructive dialogue. However, this process requires a counterpart. Unfortunately, Brussels bureaucracy currently behaves differently, yet there is encouragement in the support of certain countries - albeit a small number - with Slovakia being one of the leading nations that upholds these principles and consistently supports Georgia. This process is very encouraging," stated Mikheil Kavelashvili.

According to Mikheil Kavelashvili, if more countries had adhered to the peaceful policies and principles to which Georgia and Slovakia are committed, the war in Ukraine would not have occurred.

"We had the opportunity to witness the pressure exerted on Georgia following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, aimed at drawing our country into these processes, compelling us to impose sanctions on Russia, sending volunteers, and even directly urging us to join the conflict. Our people and government stood firmly on principle, and the outcome has shown that we were in the right. I believe Europeans, Slovaks, and others should also consider this result. If more countries had adhered to these principles and the peaceful policies pursued by Slovakia and Georgia, I am convinced that the war in Ukraine would not have occurred, and the outcome would have been completely different. Yet we see the devastating consequences of the war, and this process continues. We remain hopeful that, sooner or later, it will come to an end, and we will continue to uphold our principled position in support of peace, as we see that this approach yields tangible results. For now, the number of countries adhering to these principles is still small, but I am confident that it will inevitably grow. The world is not organized so simply; the protection of freedom, equality, peace, stability and prosperity requires a daily struggle - one that we strive to uphold. Most importantly, we serve our people, and our principled stance has received their support, which has been reflected in the results. In parallel, by preventing war and establishing peace within our country, we have also advanced our economy and the well-being of our citizens, and this process continues. In this regard, we also express strong interest in encouraging other countries to take greater interest in our region. We maintain very good relations with our neighbors and have consistently emphasized that when this process began, there was still an active conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia. However, the peoples who have lived together for centuries contributed to establishing peace in the region, and the opportunities arising from this are significant and evident to all. We will do everything possible to ensure that these three countries, along with other states in the region, make the South Caucasus one of the most attractive regions in the world.
We are pursuing this path, and it was precisely on these topics that I held discussions with my colleague, the President. Slovakia expressed great interest, and our governments will begin to cooperate more closely across various sectors. As I mentioned, this includes trade, economic relations, defense and security, culture, education, and more. We are hopeful that the friendly and warm relationship between our societies and peoples will deepen further, and, of course, that our professional and institutional cooperation will become closer and more developed.

I would like to once again extend my greetings to the Slovak people and to their President for the warm hospitality. He mentioned that he has not yet visited Georgia, and we are pleased to invite him to our very beautiful and welcoming country. I hope that this dialogue will continue in Georgia.

Once again, I offer my sincere thanks and wish every success to both the President and the Slovak people," stated the President of Georgia.