I am delighted to host my Austrian colleague in Georgia, we may call this visit a historic one. Such a statement the Prime Minister of Georgia made at a joint press-conference with Austrian Federal Chancellor.

“Let me warmly greet and welcome my dear colleague Karl Nehammer, Federal Chancellor of Austria. I am delighted to host my Austrian colleague in Georgia. It is the first visit of the Austrian Chancellor to Georgia and it may well be called a historic one. I wish to initially express gratitude to my colleague. We have had a very productive meeting and discussion. I was in Vienna with an Official Visit in summer hosted by Mr. Nehammer. We have had a very fruitful discussion about our bilateral relations, geo-political situation at large that is rather challenging at a global scale, on the continent of Europe and within our region. Naturally, it all affects our countries.

We had a detailed discussion here as well, touching upon the current situation. Of course, war in Ukraine is the most pressing challenge on the continent of Europe. Such large-scale crises have not been witnessed since WWII in Europe. Of course, it is a major problem for the security architecture of the entire Europe, the whole world and for our region as well. You may well be aware that our country has problems of its own. 20% of our territory is occupied by Russia. War in 2008 was, of course, devastating for our country. It has resulted in a so-called recognition of our historic territories – Abkhazia and Samachablo. This occupation continues to this day, which is naturally a huge challenge for our country. We are responding to it with an appropriate, prudent policy. We have succeeded in maintaining peace, stability and economic advancement in Georgia for the past 10 years.

Our governance has accomplished all the possible milestone achievements that could have been made in essence in the journey of EU integration in the last 10 years”, - said Irakli Gribashvili.