Saakashvili Meets Italian FM

President Saakashvili met with Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini in Rome on May 28, the Italian ANSA and the French AFP news agencies reported.

Saakashvili is in Italy on a private visit to promote his book “I Speak to You About Freedom”, according to these reports.

"We are on our way at a time when Europe is so… busy with its own problems it’s so hard to hear our knock on the door," Saakashvili told a joint news conference with the Italian Foreign Minister, according to AFP. “I’m very pleased that we’ve finally found our historic aspiration to get back closer to Europe… How close remains to be seen but the first steps are already there.”

ANSA reported that the Italian Foreign Minister said after the meeting that due to Italy’s strong ties with both Russia and Georgia, Rome could help stabilize relations between the two countries.

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