Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE), Thorbjørn Jagland, visits Tbilisi on February 6 for the launch of CoE’s two-year action plan for Georgia.

The Action Plan with a total budget of EUR 17 million, which was adopted by CoE’s committee of ministers last October, involves 34 projects in the areas of human rights, justice system, penitentiary, elections, media, good governance, confidence building, tolerance and antidiscrimination.

CoE said the Action Plan represents “a comprehensive and coherent package of co-operation to support bringing national legislation, institutions and practice in line with Council of Europe standards.”

“The country has made serious efforts to translate Council of Europe standards in many areas into national legislation. It carried out important reforms. And it is committed to continue with reforms. The Action Plan is designed precisely in order to translate this will into reality,” CoE Secretary General, Thorbjørn Jagland, said.

In Tbilisi the CoE Secretary General is meeting with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, PM Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze and members of the Georgian delegation to the Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly.

After visiting Tbilisi, the CoE Secretary General will head to Sochi where he is scheduled to attend on February 7 an informal meeting of sport ministers on the occasion of the Winter Olympic Games.