Swiss President Visits Azerbaijan, Georgia, Armenia
Swiss President Didier Burkhalter, whose country holds OSCE rotating chairmanship in 2014, will hold talks in Tbilisi on June 3 as part of his trip to three South Caucasus states.
Burkhalter, who also serves as Switzerland’s foreign minister, will arrive in Tbilisi from Azerbaijani capital Baku, which he visits on June 2, and will then head to Armenian capital Yerevan.
Switzerland, which also acts as a diplomatic mediator between Russia and Georgia since the two countries have cut diplomatic relations after the August 2008 war, has identified the South Caucasus region, together with the Western Balkans, among its regional priority areas for its OSCE chairmanship this year.
In Tbilisi the Swiss President will meet Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili; PM Irakli Garibashvili; Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, as well as lawmakers from ruling Georgian Dream coalition and UNM opposition party. He will also visit a project by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) which is providing support to families affected by the conflict, according to the Swiss Federal Department for Foreign Affairs.
Geneva talks, launched after the August 2008 war, will also be on the agenda of discussions in Tbilisi; together with the EU and UN, OSCE acts as a co-chair of these talks.