The Georgian Parliament and the Eastern Partnership Civil Society Forum, represented by the Georgian National Platform, have officially signed a memorandum of cooperation. The signing ceremony involved Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili and the Chair of the National Platform, Nino Chkhobadze.

Papuashvili expressed confidence that the signed memorandum would serve as a fundamental basis for successful collaboration, underlining the substantial cooperation between the Parliament of Georgia and the National Platform over the past year and a half.

He underscored the deepening relationship, particularly, after Georgia applied for EU membership and the subsequent evaluations and recommendations from the European Union. Papuashvili emphasized the importance of professional and organizational unions in implementing these recommendations.

“Although Georgia has completed half of the association agreement with the EU, there is still substantial work ahead. The relationship with the national platform is valuable, as it unites over two hundred non-governmental organizations, accordingly, it includes organizations of all profiles, people with all sectoral knowledge, and professionals. The national platform’s role is crucial in ensuring that reforms are accepted by the public,” Papuashvili said.

The Chair of the National Platform, Nino Chkhobadze, highlighted that the collaboration between the Parliament and the National Platform of Georgia is deepening. She emphasized that representatives from the civil sector will have increased involvement in the decision-making process, which is deemed highly important.