Parliament Speaker of Norway Visits Georgia

The president of Norway’s parliament, Olemic Thommessen, who is holding meetings with Georgian officials in Tbilisi on March 23-26, said his visit aims at demonstrating support to Georgia’s democratic reforms and its efforts to move closer to Europe.

Thommessen, who last week visited Ukraine along with parliament speakers from other Nordic and Baltic countries, said ongoing “aggression” against Ukraine is “actually the same aggression” that was carried out against Georgia in August, 2008.

“I think that the only good answer to the Russian aggression in a long term is to show one’s ability to build a society that can give welfare for the population, ability to build true democracy. That’s how to win that conflict in a long term and I think you have really started in a wonderful way of doing just that,” he said.

“Democratic thinking is challenged by the Russian aggression; it is challenged by the extremist groups and extremist way of thinking – also from right-wing parties in Europe, from Islamic groups,” he said after meeting his Georgian counterpart Davit Usupashvili.

In Tbilisi Thommessen will also meet President Giorgi Margvelashvili; PM Irakli Garibashvili; Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, as well as head of the Georgian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Ilia II. He also visited a settlement for internally displaced persons in Tserovani.

“It is very important that Norway is a supporter of Georgia’s NATO membership,” Georgian parliament speaker, Davit Usupashvili, said after the meeting. “We discussed it in details.”