Swiss Foreign Minister to Visit Georgia
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 15 Jan.'10 / 15:32

Swiss Foreign Minister, Micheline Calmy-Rey, will visit Georgia on January 15-16 in her capacity as president of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE).

“Protection of human rights in Georgia will be at the centre of Mrs. Calmy-Rey’s visit,” CoE said in a press release.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that discussions “will focus on the issue of cooperation between Georgia and the Council of Europe, the situation on the occupied territory as well as the programmes carried out by the Council of Europe in Georgia.”

During the visit the Swiss Foreign Minister plans meetings with her Georgian counterpart Grigol Vashadze; President Saakashvili; Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili; Justice Minister Zurab Adeishvili; State Minister for Reintegration Temur Iakobashvili; Chairman of the Supreme Court Kote Kublashvili and Public Defender Giorgi Tugushi, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said..

Calmy-Rey will also meet with Georgian civil society representatives, according to CoE.

After visiting Tbilisi, the Swiss Foreign Minister will visit Moscow and meet with her Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov.

Switzerland represents Russia's diplomatic interests in Georgia and Georgia's interests in Russia after the two countries cut diplomatic ties following the August, 2008 war.

Itar-Tass news agency reported quoting Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko that issues related with Georgia would be among the topics discussed during the meeting of the Russian and Swiss foreign ministers.

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