Prime Minister of Georgia met Kairat Abdrakhmanov, High Commissioner of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on National Minorities today.

Dignitaries reviewed the successful cooperation of Georgia with OSCE institutions, particularly focusing on the active dynamic of interaction with the Office of High Commissioner on National Minorities (HCNM).

According to Irakli Garibashvili, Georgia is a multi-ethnic country attaching special importance to the effective implementation of the national policy on civic equality and integration. The Prime Minister also believes that the referred framework paper developed with an active engagement of HCNM Office aims to create equal opportunities to all citizens of the country, irrespective of their ethnic, religious or other affiliations.

Irakli Garibashvili noted at the meeting that Georgia strives to adhere to the high international standards of human rights and freedoms, and to institutionalise the best international practices. The Head of Government expressed his gratitude to the OSCE High Commissioner for his active engagement in the consolidation of democratic institutions of Georgia.

It was noted at the meeting that successful cooperation between Georgia and HCNM is evidenced with a vivid example of the education sector, which offers quality teaching and learning opportunities in the mother tongue. Among various mechanisms of a policy on civic integration, access to information and media in minority languages was mentioned, along with wide-scale public awareness campaigns on public programs and services, as well as promotion of cultural events.

Focus was made on the valuable engagement of OSCE in the process of peaceful conflict resolution in Georgia. Reference was also made on the military activities witnessed in Ukraine.

Meeting held at the Government Administration was attended by Mark Fumagal, OSCE HCNM Senior Political Adviser; Zhazira Kul-Mukhammed, OSCE HCNM Personal Adviser; Nino Gogoladze, OSCE HCNM Program Coordinator; Attendees from the Georgian side included H.E. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to the Republic of Austria accredited to OSCE (Permanent Representation of Georgia) and other international organisations headquartered in Vienna.