The Prime Minister of Georgia held a face-to-face meeting with the President of the European Council, who is visiting Georgia as part of the Georgia’s European Way international conference in Batumi.

Irakli Garibashvili thanked Charles Michel for visiting Georgia and pointed out that the recent high-level visits demonstrate the excellence of the relations between Georgia and the EU and underline Georgia’s importance to the EU.

Georgia remains the EU"s reliable ally and a crucial stronghold of democracy in a geopolitically complex region, the Head of the Government emphasized.

The meeting underscored Georgia’s positive role in the Caucasus. President singled out the Prime Minister’s successful mediation resulting in the release of 15 Armenian citizens and important maps of mined territories handed over to the Azerbaijani side. Irakli Garibashvili reaffirmed his commitment to continuing active engagement in the process of dialogue and to making Georgia a platform for negotiations in order to facilitate the peaceful resolution of the present conflicts and to ensure peace and stability in the region.

The Prime Minister, together with the President of the European Council, discussed the importance of EU engagement in the Caucasus Region and the significance of the political agreement achieved in Georgia through Charles Michel’s personal involvement. The ruling team has implemented the agreement’s provisions, and this process continues, the Head of Government said and added that, unfortunately, most of the opposition have yet to sign Charles Michel’s agreement, and that is a major obstacle crippling the stabilization and pacification of the political situation.

During the face-to-face meeting with Charles Michel, the Prime Minister also emphasized that the Government’s major task is to maintain stability and peace in Georgia, a stance also shared by the President of the European Council.

The conversation also touched on the upcoming local self-government elections. According to the Prime Minister, the authorities are motivated to ensure peaceful and transparent elections. Garibashvili also addressed President Michel with a request to delegate as many EU observers as possible, to prevent everyone from engaging, for any reason, in speculations concerning the elections. The meeting also emphasized that Georgia has already invited all international election observer organizations to the upcoming elections in October.

One of the topics of the conversation between the Prime Minister and President Michel was electoral reform. According to Irakli Garibashvili, the ruling team, with the opposition’s engagement, has developed a near perfect electoral reform. The Head of the Government reaffirmed the authorities’ commitment to continuing the ongoing judicial reform.