Austria affirms Georgia as important partner in bilateral relations, development cooperation

Austrian Foreign Minister Beate Meinl-Reisinger on Wednesday said Georgia was an “important” partner for Austria in terms of bilateral relations, as well as a significant partner in development cooperation.

In her remarks at a meeting with her Georgian counterpart Maka Botchorishvili, Meinl-Reisinger highlighted Austria’s commitment to strengthening ties with Georgia, particularly in economic cooperation, security resilience, and countering Russian disinformation.

“In terms of bilateral relations, Georgia is an important partner, as well as a key partner in development cooperation. Georgia plays a central role in this area. We have strong economic relations, and further deepening these ties will be beneficial for both sides. On the backdrop of Russia’s ongoing war of aggression in Ukraine, both of our countries need to strengthen resilience, which was also a topic of our discussion. Russia continues its attempts to destabilise our institutions and societies. We must unite our efforts to counter Russian disinformation and false narratives”, the Austrian FM said.

She emphasised that Georgia was playing a central role in Austria’s development cooperation efforts.

Discussions also covered the ongoing Russian occupation of Georgian territories and the broader geopolitical challenges both countries were facing.

“Russia must not evade responsibility for its blatant violations of international law. If the international order is based on the idea that might make right instead of rules, the consequences for countries like Austria and Georgia would be immense. This is why Austria fully supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. A key focus of our discussions was Georgia’s occupied regions”, Meinl-Reisinger noted.

Responding to a journalist's question regarding Georgia's status as a safe country, the Austrian Minister stated that the situation was constantly assessed together with the Minister of Interior, and Georgia remained a safe country.