Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani meets with Spanish officials
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, January 19
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani met with his Spanish counterpart Arancha Gonzalez Laya and Spanish Interior Minister Fernando Grande-Marlaska in Madrid yesterday.
During the meeting with the Spanish Minister of Foreign affairs, parties welcomed the high dynamics of the recent partnership between Georgia and the Kingdom of Spain. The sides stressed the importance of close cooperation between partners and the international community to overcome the crisis caused by the global pandemic. They also underlined the importance of accessibility to the COVID vaccine. As the statement published by MFA of Georgia reads, the Spanish Foreign Minister noted the COVID vaccine-related plan of Spain (Solidarity plan), which will ensure the fair distribution of coronavirus vaccines around the world. In this regard, the EU’s approach to distributing vaccines to partner countries was once again highlighted.
While talking about bilateral relations the ministers welcomed the close partnership between the two countries. They emphasized the need to deepen economic ties between Georgia and Spain, “which is gaining particular importance in terms of stimulating the economy in the wake of a global pandemic.”
Spain’s strong support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty was once again affirmed. According to the official statement, the conversation touched upon the process of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration as well. Zalkaliani introduced to his colleague the decision of the Georgian government about preparing an application for EU membership by 2024. The conversation also focused on the forthcoming Eastern Partnership Summit and Georgia’s visions regarding the outcome of the summit.
Gonzalez noted that the meeting was very important to upgrade the Spanish-Georgian relations to a new stage and to make a special focus on tourism, infrastructure, energy fields, and small and medium businesses. According to her, these are the fields where Spain and Georgia can cooperate successfully.
Zalkaliani also met with the interior minister of the Kingdom of Spain. The meeting mainly focused on the global pandemic and its management process. Apart from that, the sides highlighted the successful cooperation between Georgia and Spain in the field of law enforcement and discussed the steps taken by the Government of Georgia to enforce visa-free travel. The parties expressed readiness to facilitate the signing of a readmission agreement between Georgia and Spain and discussed the prospects of Georgian driving license recognition in Spain. In this regard, the reforms carried out by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia is noteworthy, according to which, Georgian driving licenses fully comply with EU standards.
