Georgia, Germany Sign Cultural Agreement
The Foreign Minister of Georgia, Ilia Darchiashvili, is currently on an official visit to Berlin, Germany, as part of which he met with his counterpart, the Federal Minister for Foreign Affairs, Annalena Baerbock, on 13 September to sign an agreement on “Cooperation in the Field of Culture.”
The agreement aims to deepen ties between Georgia and Germany as related to the fields of culture, education, and science. Per the Georgian Foreign Ministry, the agreement emphasized the historical contribution of both Georgia and Germany to global cultural heritage and highlighted the need to exchange information and raise awareness about the culture of both countries.
The agreement also outlined enhanced cooperation in education by establishing stronger links between the academic and expert communities of the two countries, as well as facilitating student exchange programs, and offering greater educational opportunities for Georgians, among other aspects.
The agreement is also meant to support the Georgian diaspora living in Germany by offering them greater opportunities to preserve their language, culture, traditions, and identity.
For its part, the German Foreign Office tweeted that the agreement “focuses on the people in Georgia and Germany providing inter alia for more language support, educational cooperation, and cooperation in sports, as well as easier mutual recognition of educational qualifications.”
Meeting between the two Foreign Ministers
FM Darchiashvili met with Minister Baerbock before signing the agreement for a discussion on bilateral collaboration, especially against the backdrop of the current geopolitical situation in the Black Sea region and the world.
In that context, the MFA underscored the “special importance” of Germany’s support as a leading EU and NATO member.
The two also accentuated the importance of the European Council’s decision to grant Georgia European perspective and its path towards EU candidate status as it implements the European Commission’s 12 recommendations.
In that vein, the German Foreign Office stressed that “Georgia belongs to the European family” and emphasized that for the next steps on Georgia’s EU integration, “swift implementation of the necessary reforms will be key.”
“Germany stands firmly by Georgia’s side,” the statement added.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
