On November 17, Alen Simonyan, the President of the Armenian National Assembly, traveled to Tbilisi with a delegation to meet with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Speaker of the Parliament Shalva Papuashvili.

Memorandum of Cooperation

The Culture Committee of the Georgian Parliament and the Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth, and Sports Committees of the Armenian Parliament signed the memorandum of cooperation. The signatories were Eliso Bolkvadze and Sisak Gabrielyan, the respective chairpersons of the two committees.

According to MP Bolkvadze, tighter parliamentary cooperation will be sparked by the pact, marking a new period in ties between the two nations' legislative bodies. Additionally, she mentioned that the MoU includes plans for joint meetings of the committees in Georgia and Armenia to prepare cultural days and other events.

Meeting with Speaker Papuashvili

According to a statement from the Georgian Parliament, Speaker Papuashvili and Speaker Simonyan addressed regional and bilateral cooperation during their meeting.

Speaker Papuashvili reiterated Georgia's willingness to mediate between Armenia and Azerbaijan in this context to further regional peace and stability.

During the visit, the two parties also went through the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the two parliaments.

Speaker Papuashvili made this point during a joint news conference after their meeting: "Georgia is committed to continuing to serve as a mediator between Armenia and Azerbaijan for the South Caucasus area to serve as an example of peace and partnership." He emphasized, "I hope that we can show everyone, but especially to our younger generations that the South Caucasus people can construct a peaceful future even in the face of the most difficult difficulties by exercising wisdom and cooperating."

"The development of strong neighborly connections with Georgia is one of our nation's key foreign policy objectives," Speaker Simonyan emphasized. "We are interested in developing strategic ties with Georgia," he continued.

Meeting with Prime Minister Garibashvili

In their discussion, Speaker Simonyan and Prime Minister Garibashvili addressed the opportunities for future cooperation and the state of the two countries' relations.

Focusing on the necessity of peaceful conflict settlement, further highlighting that the prompt de-escalation of the situation and the start of talks to solve outstanding concerns will serve the common interests of all sides, they also considered the regional situation. The Peaceful Neighborhood Initiative put out by Georgia was mentioned in that context. The two parties remarked that it might provide a firm basis in this respect so that the sides may reestablish confidence in one another.

After the meeting, Speaker Simonyan tweeted, "Very interesting meeting with Brotherly Georgia's Prime Minister, [Irakli Garibashvili]. There is no other way to achieve regional cooperation, prosperity, and security."