Parliament Speaker Shalva Papuashvili is currently on a working visit to the Netherlands, where he has already met with the Presidents of the House of Representatives and the Senate, Vera Bergkamp and Jan Bruijn, as well as the President of EUROJUST, Ladislav Hamran.
Meeting with Presidents of the House of Representatives and Senate
During his meeting with President Bergkamp and President Bruijn, Speaker Papuashvili discussed enhancing bilateral Parliamentary ties, including at the Committee level.
In that context, the Speaker highlighted the Georgia-Netherlands Parliamentary “twinning project, aiming at the enhancement of Parliamentary oversight on public finances and the intensification of fiscal administration.”
Speaker Papuashvili briefed his counterparts on Georgia’s progress in achieving EU reforms as well.
The two sides also discussed the ongoing war in Ukraine and its “grave consequences,” as well as developments in the South Caucasus region.
According to the press release of the House of Representatives of the Netherlands, the discussion focused on the “special bond between the Dutch and Georgian parliaments.”
In that context, the press release noted that as part of the ‘twinning’ project between Georgia and the Netherlands an employee of the Dutch House of Representatives has been working in the Georgian Parliament for two years to advise employees and MPs regarding oversight of public finances.
Meeting with EUROJUST President
According to the Georgian Parliament’s press release, during his meeting with EUROJUST President Hamran, Speaker Papuashvili reflected on the Georgia-EUROJUST cooperation in curbing crime.
In that sense, both sides expressed their commitment to continuing to develop cooperation between Georgia and EUROJUST.
The Speaker also provided an update on Georgia’s compliance with EU recommendations, “attaching particular emphasis to judicial reform and countering organized crime.”
Per the Georgian Parliament, President Hamran noted that EUROJUST supports Georgia in the process of fulfilling EU recommendations. He also thanked the country for contributing to the enhancement of European security and countering transnational organized crime.
Address at the Clingendael Institute
As part of his visit, Speaker Papuashvili gave a speech at the Clingendael Institute – the Netherlands Institute of International Relations – and participated in a public discussion afterward.
During his address, the Speaker noted that by receiving a European perspective, “there are no longer any questions about [Georgia’s] European future, which many generations dreamed of and for which many generations fought.” “Georgia firmly belongs to Europe,” he stressed.
Pointing out that the world is constantly changing and causing “political, economic, social, climate, and military difficulties,” particularly with the ongoing war in Ukraine, the Speaker stressed that, “in the conditions of the mentioned changes and turbulence, Georgia has managed to maintain its foreign-political priorities.”
Drawing attention to Georgia’s progress in implementing the European Commission’s recommendations, Speaker Papuashvili also remarked, “despite the fact that the process is not over yet, Georgia has made significant progress in the last 6 months.”
“Our goal is to strengthen state institutions, to further approach EU legislation, and complete the Europeanization of the country,” he asserted.
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The Speaker emphasized that granting EU candidate status to Georgia will “add more energy to Georgia’s still young but dynamically developing democracy and will be a great incentive for other countries in our region.”
“Candidate status will also reduce the efforts of adversaries such as Russia to re-impose a geopolitical iron curtain over our region,” Speaker Papuashvili added.
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