Speaker: Key takeaway from Czech parliament meeting is to ensure bilateral relations are not harmed by Brussels’ misguided policy
According to Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili, it is significant that this is the first bilateral visit by a Speaker of the Georgian Parliament to the Czech Republic in the past 12 years.
Speaking to Georgian journalists, Papuashvili said he had held a lengthy and interesting meeting with the Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies at the Czech Parliament. He added that a number of issues had been discussed.
“The main conclusion of our meeting is that bilateral relations should not suffer as a result of the misguided policy Brussels is pursuing towards Georgia. Our countries have traditionally maintained friendly and partnership relations, and we also share common economic interests.
“Georgia is also part of the economic security of the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic receives 40% of its oil from Azerbaijan via Georgia. Just recently, the Czech Republic signed a new agreement with Azerbaijan on gas supplies, under which gas will also be delivered to the Czech Republic through Georgia. Accordingly, Georgia and the Middle Corridor are an important part of the Czech Republic’s economic security.
Of course, we discussed the preconditions, reasons and pretexts behind Brussels’ particularly immature policy towards Georgia today. We discussed the Transparency Law, which was indeed the reason, while everything else is merely a pretext. In reality, the main reason is that certain foundations do not want their involvement in Georgian politics to be transparent, which is, in general, a violation of sovereignty.
I also invited the Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies to visit Georgia. I hope I will have the opportunity to host him in Georgia soon,” Papuashvili said.
Georgian Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili departed for Prague on November 8, accompanied by a parliamentary delegation, at the official invitation of Tomio Okamura, Speaker of the Czech Chamber of Deputies.