Manana Manjgaladze started the traditional briefing with an important event of the past week – the visit of the President and the Foreign Affairs Minister of the Swiss Confederation – Micheline Calmy-Rey. According to her, the Georgian side has agreed to the compromise offer of Switzerland, which envisions monitoring of cargo by international observers at the Georgian borders, including the occupied regions – Roki and Psou. Monitoring will be administered on any type of cargo moving around these territories.
“You are aware of the fact that the Russian Federation has asked for time to express its position. That is why Micheline Calmy-Rey arrived in Georgia after visiting Moscow yesterday. The meeting of the Presidents of Georgia and Switzerland took place in Batumi” – noted Manana Manjgaladze.
The Press Speaker of the President also stated that one other important issue was decided during the meeting: the Swiss side will be administering the monitoring.
“An important thing was ascertained: The Swiss Confederation will be the international entity, which will administer the monitoring” - noted the Press Speaker and added that no other revisions have been made in the text. The Russian side asked for additional time in order to make a decision.
Manana Manjgaladze also informed journalists about the fact that, in several days, a very important forum is scheduled in Georgia. The country of Georgia will host the delegations of those NATO member states, which will participate in the North-Atlantic Council session. The NATO Secretary General will also visit Tbilisi.
“We highly value the deepening of the relations of Georgia and NATO as well as their future partnership. We think that this event will be very important for our country” – noted she.
The Press Speaker also touched on internal issues and drew attention to the Government Action Plan.
“The Prime Minister of Georgia has introduced a new, “Ten Point Plan” at the government session. The President has ordered the Prime Minister and other members of the cabinet to inform the public about the stratagem of the new government plan. I would like to define several important aspects of the plan. The government of Georgia will work intensively in these directions within the next few months in order to strengthen the economic development of the country, attracting new investments and creating new jobs” – stated the President’s Press Speaker.