The visit by Prime Minister of Armenia Hovik Abrahamyan on May 17 in Tbilisi was intended to reaffirm the good relations between Armenia and its neighbor Georgia, which have strengthened their cooperation since the departure of Georgian President Saakashvili. During his working visit for a day in the Georgian capital, Hovik Abrahamyan met with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Garibashvili, with whom he discussed the prospects of enhancing bilateral cooperation, especially in the economic field, as well as several issues of regional and international order.
The stated objective of this brief visit was to address the Georgians, and especially the supporters of the Georgian opposition, as well as Armenians and other peoples of the region, a clear message about the state of relations between the two countries who intend to remain excellent despite the diplomatic discomfort caused by the recent meeting between the President of the Armenian Parliament, Galust Sahakyan, and Anatoly Bibilov, his counterpart from the breakaway region of South Ossetia, which has, like Abkhazia, the political and military support of Russia recognized the independence of both territories in August 2008.
The meeting took place on the sidelines of the visit Mr. Bibilov had at the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh as part of the mission to observe the parliamentary elections that took place there. This had earned a reprimand from the Ambassador of Armenia in Georgia Yuri Vardanyan, the Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Gigi Gigiadze, which had expressed “deep concern” about the meeting in Tbilisi which authorities Armenian had however indicated that it was a “private” character. The Georgian Foreign Ministry had said in a statement that the meeting was against the spirit of friendship which traditionally governs the relations between Georgia and Armenia, and that it violated the bilateral relations.
Similarly, Armenia did not appreciate that his Georgian neighbor does not participate in the ceremonies of the centenary of the Armenian Genocide in Yerevan, the Georgian Parliament has also rejected a resolution on the recognition of this genocide. These incidents do not contribute to facilitate relations between the two neighbors, who chose divergent political and economic policies, Georgia have signed an association agreement with the European Union while Armenia has waived its European Integration rally since January 1st Eurasian Economic Union led by Russia, with which Tbilisi is still latent conflict because of its support for South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The two countries pledged to strengthen their cooperation within the limits of their respective integration processes.
Gari © armenews.com