The head of Polish diplomacy met with President Salome Zourabichvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani, and First Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia George Volski. During his talks with the Georgian politicians, Minister Rau reiterated the OSCE’s support for Tbilisi in resolving its internal and external issues, including Georgia’s engagement in the Geneva International Discussions (GID) and meetings of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM). Both formats enhance dialogue and measures to improve the situation of the population affected by the 2008 conflict. “We will continue our substantive support for Georgia in meeting its commitments in all three dimensions of the OSCE. In this region, I am represented by my Special Representative Ambassador Viorel Moșanu, whose position I consider vital for our presidency,” said Minister Rau. “Under current circumstances, in the event of a conflict in Georgia, our goal will be to sustain diplomatic processes, maintain open communication channels and avoid deliberate or accidental escalation,” he added.

The OSCE Chairman-in-Office also discussed the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia/Tskhinvali region in the context of Polish chairmanship of the OSCE. He also thanked his Georgian partners for Tbilisi’s engagement in the peace processes in the South Caucasus, including the Peaceful Neighbourhood Initiative. The chief of the Polish MFA also held a visit, organised by the EU Monitoring Mission in Georgia (EUMM), to the Administrative Boundary Line (ABL) with the breakaway regions.

 

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Georgia was the first stop on Minister Rau’s tour of the South Caucasus. On the following days, Poland’s top diplomat will travel to Azerbaijan and Armenia. For more information on Poland’s chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe in 2022, go to the OSCE website at: https://www.osce.org/chairmanship.

 

Łukasz Jasina
MFA Press Spokesperson

 

Photo: Sebastian Indra / MFA