“Be friends of Europe, but dream about better Europe,” Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Hellenic Republic, Nikos Kotzias said during his visit to Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) on March 7. The Greek Foreign Minister delivered a lecture “Greece and Promotion of a Positive Agenda for Regional Cooperation.” Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze, students and academics attended the event.
During the lecture Nikos Kotzias focused on EU values, EU-Greece and EU-Georgia relations, Brexit, international legal norms, Georgia’s EU integration, etc. “We need cooperation; we are working with the Georgian government to help the country join the European Union, because just the Caucasus had been the foundation of what we call Europe today. We are not doing it because we are against anyone; we are doing it because we are observing international legal norms,” the Greek Foreign Minister said. He also noted that Georgia and Greece have very close historical relations, because Georgia is the country, whose interests should be defended by Greece and Europe, as a whole. “Let’s protect Georgia’s territorial integrity, because by protecting Georgia, we are protecting the territorial integrity of Greece – this is a recognized principle of international law,” he said.
The Greek Foreign Minister appreciated the activities carried out by the TSU Institute of Classical, Byzantine and Modern Greek Studies. Rector of TSU, Giorgi Sharvashidze awarded the Medal of the Tbilisi State University to Nikos Kotzias for his contribution to deepening the relations between Georgia and the Hellenic Republic, supporting scientific and cultural relations between the two countries.
