On November 17th, 2017, the Estonian School of Diplomacy in partnership with the Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training Centre of the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs organised a one-day seminar entitled “Georgia’s Path towards the European Union: Next Steps after the Eastern Partnership Summit”.
The opening remarks were given by Mr Ekke Nõmm, Director, Estonian School of Diplomacy, Ms Maia Kipshidze, Director, Levan Mikeladze Diplomatic Training Centre, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The one-day seminar consisted of two sessions. Moderated by Emmet Tuohy, Senior Research Fellow, Estonian Center of Eastern Partnership; Fellow, Eurasia Democratic Security Network, the speakers of the first session were: Vakhtang Makharoblishvili, Deputy Foreign Minister, H.E. János Herman, Ambassador of the European Union to Georgia, Marina Kaljurand, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Estonia, and Kakha Gogolashvili, Director, EU Studies Centre, Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies – EU-Georgia Relations and Future Perspectives
The speakers of the second session were Archil Karaulashvili, First Deputy State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration, Mariam Gabunia, Head of Foreign Trade Policy Department, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development, and H.E. Kai Kaarelson, Ambassador of Estonia. The session was moderated by Giorgi Goguadze, Deputy Director, Georgian Center for Security and Development
The one-day seminar in Tbilisi aimed at discussing and assessing Georgia’s endeavours towards accessing the European Union and becoming a full member. The seminar came one week before the much anticipated 5th Eastern Partnership (EaP) summit that will take place in Brussels on November 24th, 2017, where Heads of State and Government from the EU member states and the six Eastern partner countries will look forward to future cooperation. They will also take stock of what has been achieved since the last summit in Riga in 2015, focusing on the tangible benefits delivered to the citizens of the six Eastern Partnership countries.
The seminar was attended by ambassadors and other representatives of the embassies of EU member states, newly-appointed diplomats of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives from the Office of the State Minister on European and the Euro-Atlantic Integration, and members of think-tanks and non-governmental organizations working on these issues.
Useful links:
The 5th Eastern Partnership (EaP) Summit
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia
