YEAs in Georgia Met with Commissioner Várhelyi

On July 7, European Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement Olivér Várhelyi, met with business and youth representatives at a roundtable discussion on connectivity and recovery in Tbilisi. EU Ambassador to Georgia Carl Hartzell also attended the meeting. The visit was a part of the commissioner’s South Caucasus tour from 6 to 9 July, visiting Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. This was the Commissioner’s first mission to countries of the region.

The roundtable was composed of the Commissioner, 5 panellists and a moderator. Each panelist gave a brief presentation on the following topics: transport, trade/SMEs, green/SMEs in the agro-food sector, digital and a youth perspective.

Young European Ambassadors, Guliko Bekurishvili and Giorgi Giorgadze, had the honor to attend the meeting with the Commissioner and used this opportunity to discuss crucial matters for Georgia starting from trade to youth activities during a short Q&A session.

It may not be a surprise if we tell you that the time was limited, but it was used effectively and productively, indeed. Giorgi Giorgadze even asked a question about what the commissioner and Mariam Khergiani (the representative of CENN) thought about the role of the EU in supporting the youth of Georgia and the groups, which share the European values, what steps were they going to implement in the future. The Commissioner expressed his warm attitude towards youth activism in Georgia and the initiative of Young European Ambassadors. Also, he highlighted the importance of the EU’s support and promised to continue doing so.

“Started my first visit to South Caucasus in beautiful Georgia. This morning I’m presenting our ambitious Economic and Investment Plan for Eastern Partnership at a round table on connectivity and recovery. We are mobilising EUR 23 billion to leverage up to EUR 17 billion investments,” EU Commissioner tweeted.

At the end of the meeting, we even shook hands and summed the whole meeting up. We think that Mr. Commissioner’s visit to Georgia was the best way of remembering that Georgia was, is, and will be an integral part of western civilization. The EU flag was restored the day Mr. Varhelyi arrived in Georgia, symbolically underlining that the EU flag will always be spread on Georgian sky, again and again, no matter what. The visit of the Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi with a 3.9 billion-Euro package and “Economic&Investment Plan” just the day after when the EU flag was removed in front of the Georgian parliament is the clear declaration of how valuable Georgia is for the EU.