Georgian Parliament official: Italy backs Georgia’s European integration

Italy has reaffirmed its strong support for Georgia’s European integration and described Georgia as an important strategic partner, said on Thursday Nikoloz Samkharadze, the chair of the Georgian Parliament’s foreign relations committee, during his official visit to Italy.

Speaking after meetings held in the Italian Senate, Samkharadze said the discussions focused on bilateral relations between Georgia and Italy, parliamentary cooperation, regional security challenges, and Georgia-EU relations.

“The Italian side stated that they support Georgia’s European integration. They also emphasized that Georgia is a very important partner for them. Accordingly, they fully support and will continue to support sincere and open dialogue between Georgia and the European Union”, Samkharadze said.

According to him, the Georgian delegation held meetings with the chair of the Italian Senate foreign affairs committee and the head of the Italy-Georgia friendship group in the Senate. The sides discussed deepening parliamentary cooperation, including the exchange of visits and strengthening institutional ties.

Regional security issues were among the key topics of discussion, including Russia’s occupation of Georgian territories, the Russia-Ukraine war, and developments surrounding Iran and their impact on the wider region.

Samkharadze also highlighted Georgia’s growing role in ensuring energy security for Europe, including Italy.

“We asked the Italian side to engage more actively with Brussels in order to restore dialogue between Georgia and the European Union”, he noted.

The Georgian lawmaker assessed the meetings as productive and added that the visit will continue with several additional meetings in the Italian Parliament.