“Our meetings at the Italian Senate with the Chairman of the Senate’s Foreign Affairs Committee and with the head of the friendship group in the Senate have concluded. In the course of these meetings, we discussed Georgia-Italy bilateral relations and the parliamentary dimension of our cooperation,” declared MP Nikoloz Samkharadze, Chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee of the Georgian Parliament, who is currently on an official visit to the Italian Republic at the head of a delegation.

He further noted that the meetings touched on the exchange of official visits and the prospect of deepening parliamentary cooperation.

Samkharadze also stated that the principal topic of discussion with the Italian side was security, the ongoing wars in the region and the issue of occupation.

According to him, the Italian side supports and will continue to support Georgia’s European integration, and regards Georgia as a very important partner.

“Naturally, the principal subject of our discussions was security, developments in our region, including the issue of occupation, the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the situation unfolding around Iran, and the impact all of this is having on our region. We also spoke about Georgia’s vitally important role in ensuring European energy security, including for Italy.

Furthermore, we discussed the state of Georgia-EU relations and the difficulties therein. We asked the Italian side to engage more actively with Brussels to facilitate the restoration of dialogue between Georgia and the European Union. The Italian side stated that they support Georgia’s European integration. They also emphasised that Georgia is a very important partner for them. Accordingly, they fully support, and will continue to support, the fostering of sincere, open dialogue between Georgia and the European Union, including on critical issues and matters of mutual interest. I therefore believe this meeting was rather fruitful and successful. Our visit continues, and we have several further meetings ahead of us in the Italian Parliament,” Nikoloz Samkharadze declared.