Political Background Discussion with H.E. Mikheil Saakashvili

Berlin, June 24, 2008

On the occasion of his visit to Germany H. E. Mikheil Saakashvili, President of Georgia, discussed Georgia's foreign policy with members of the German Bundestag, representatives of the Federal Foreign Office, the Federal Chancellery, the Federal Ministry of Defence as well as selected think tanks.

The topics of the discussion included Georgia's relations with Germany, the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia as well as its relations with Russia, NATO and the EU.

The Political Background Discussion with Mikheil Saakashvili continues the Körber Foundation’s engagement with the EU’s policy towards its eastern neighbors in the scope of which Background Discussions with Volodymyr Khandogiy , First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Vladimir Chizhov , Russia’s permanent representative to the European Communities, Sergei N. Martynov , Foreign Minister of the Republic of Belarus, Gela Bezhuashvili , Foreign Minister of Georgia, as well as the Bergedorf Round Table in Odessa and the Field Trip of Körber Network Foreign Policy to Georgia were conducted.

The Körber Foundation regularly invites a small circle of high-ranking actors within Berlin’s foreign policy community to its Background Discussions. As in the larger Bergedorf Round Tables, the discussions take place shielded from the public, so as to enable a confidential, frank and constructive exchange.