Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, along with cabinet ministers, MPs and a group of students, traveled to Athens on March 28 to celebrate the launch of the visa-free travel to the European Union, in a symbolic gesture to mark the country’s “return to Europe.”

Speaking at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, which hosted the conference “Georgia from Europe to Europe,” Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili stressed Georgia’s European roots and emphasized the significance of the occasion. “Being here today is not of course coincidental,” PM Kvirikashvili stated. “As I made the first visa free symbolic entry in Athens, I also made a step towards Georgia’s return to Europe – political, economic, social, cultural and spiritual.”

“In Athens, Georgia feels closer to Europe, spiritually and culturally,” Kvirikashvili went on. “We have been part of great civilizations that have grown side by side for millennia; from the epic tales of Homer to the Byzantine Empire, our past is interwoven. We have grown together as people, cultures and nations.”
 
“Athens still bears the marks of what we consider our version of the European history - Hellenic classical heritage infused with the east Roman Empire, the ancient Christian kingdoms of the Caucasus, Byzantium, national rejuvenation, cultural magnificence, political turmoil, war, devastation and the endorsement of a common vision, building a whole and free European home,” Kvirikashvili added.
 
“Together we are destined to create a non-hegemonic union that fits us all with the beauty of our cultural uniqueness and the wealth of goods we can create and share,” the Prime Minister noted.
 
“In this plot, Georgia has a role, a mark and a place. We share the same version of the history and Georgia seeks a place potentially, politically, economically, culturally and spiritually in this European neighborhood, which we share and we regard our own,” PM Kvirikashvili also said.

Georgia’s European “claim,” Giorgi Kvirikashvili stated, “makes more sense in Athens than anywhere else in Europe, from Athens, where rationalism was born and where democracy as the freedom to live by the rules you legislate was born.”
 
“We seek a place in the European order that honors sovereignty but is founded on freedoms, rights and solidarity. We have an appointment with history and this journey for many Georgians and for me personally restarts today from Athens,” he concluded.

As part of the visit to Athens, Prime Minister Kvirikashvili also met with his Greek counterpart Alexis Tsipras.