Trilateral political consultations in the format of videoconferencing was held between the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the French Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs and the German Federal Foreign Office. The Georgian delegation was led by the First Deputy Foreign Minister, Vakhtang Makharoblishvili.

The German and French representatives appraised as effective and transparent Georgia’s steps towards containing COVID-19 and congratulated Georgia on this success. Makharoblishvili thanked the German and French sides for the assistance rendered to Georgia in dealing with the pandemic and preventing its consequences in the long-term perspective. The sides also discussed the travel regulations between the two countries during the pandemic.

The First Deputy Minister highlighted Georgia’s democratic reforms, constitutional amendments adopted in June and the new election code, which the sides assessed positively.

It was underlined that Georgia continues the irreversible EU and NATO integration process. The sides congratulated the German representative on Germany’s assumption of the EU Presidency from 1 July 2020. Michael Siebert spoke about Germany’s priorities during the Presidency. Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, for his part, reviewed the Association Agenda implementation process by Georgia and future priorities of cooperation.

The Georgian side focused on the steps, which the Georgian Government takes, through coordination with the European partners, in order to get closer to the European family, to further deepen sectoral integration and to increase compatibility with the North-Atlantic Alliance. While on the theme of NATO, the First Deputy Foreign Minister highlighted NATO-Georgia cooperation dynamics and the progress made by Georgia on the Euro-Atlantic integration path and the importance of the decision adopted by the Allies and Georgia on the renewal of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP). The Parties highly appraised Georgia’s participation in the NATO- and EU-led peace operations.

The security and human rights situation in Georgia’s occupied territories and the Georgian government’s efforts aimed at peaceful resolution of the conflict was high on the agenda of the trilateral consultations. It was highlighted that while the entire world is focused on the fight against the pandemic, Russia continues its illegal activities, installation of artificial barriers, and disinformation campaigns. Reaffirming their firm support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, as well as for its successful European and Euro-Atlantic integration path, the French and German delegations held substantial discussions on concrete ways to ensure the further involvement of the French and German sides in the conflict resolution process, including within the framework of the EU and other international organizations.