POLITICAL TALKS IN GEORGIA
As part of her official visit, the National Council president was welcomed to Tbilisi by her Georgian counterpart, Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia. She also met with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and Ilia Darchiashvili, Minister of Foreign Affairs. The participants expressed their gratitude to Switzerland for its mandate as a protecting power – that is, its representation of Russian interests in Georgia and vice-versa – and its role as mediator.
The Georgian prime minister stressed his country’s vulnerability, which has no security shield and 20 per cent of which is occupied by Russia. In addition, one million Georgians live in Russia. On 12 October, the delegation visited the Administrative Boundary Line near Ergneti as well as houses built with Swiss humanitarian aid for people affected by the 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia.
Despite Georgia’s failure to obtain European Union (EU) candidate status, all those Ms Kälin met expressed confidence in their country’s EU integration process. Georgia’s foreign minister said that his country had taken the main steps towards gaining EU candidate status.
With respect to Georgia’s economic situation, Prime Minister Garibashvili said that it was promising that the country was investing in its infrastructure. The government has drawn up a ten-year strategy for the country’s development, which focuses on tourism, diversification of the economy and investment to modernise Georgia’s railways and ports, which lie on the Middle Corridor between China and Europe.
MEETING WITH CIVIL SOCIETY IN TBILISI
In Tbilisi,
Ms Kälin also met with representatives of Georgian NGOs and civil society in a round table discussion on women’s rights in the country.
NORTH MACEDONIA: EU INTEGRATION AND THE ENERGY CRISIS
Following her visit to Georgia, Ms Kälin travelled to North Macedonia on 12 October also for an official visit. At the invitation of her counterpart, Talat Xhaferi, whom she met in
Kyiv last April, she held talks in Skopje with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski and President Stevo Pendarovsk. Ms Kälin congratulated her hosts on the fact that North Macedonia has been granted EU candidate status. The visit allowed the Swiss delegation to learn more about the country’s EU accession process and the impact of the war in Ukraine on its socio-economic and energy situation. Inflation, which has reached 18.4 per cent and is reflected in rising energy and food prices, is one of the country’s biggest challenges as a result of the war in Ukraine.
In the North Macedonian parliament, the Swiss delegation met with representatives of the Committee on European Affairs. The Committee’s chairman said that the screening process on aligning North Macedonian legislation with the body of EU laws (acquis) had begun and that 45 per cent of North Macedonian law complied with European standards. After this phase, which should last 14 months, negotiations can commence.
SPEECH TO THE ASSEMBLY OF NORTH MACEDONIA
Ms Kälin also addressed the Assembly of North Macedonia on the system of political compromise and consensus in Switzerland, as the North Macedonian parliament has been called upon to vote on changing its constitution to add the Bulgarian, Croatian and Montenegrin communities to the list of minorities. This is a highly controversial topic but a requirement in order for the country to move forward with EU accession negotiations.
SWISS COOPERATION IN NORTH MACEDONIA
Within the framework of bilateral cooperation, the Swiss Parliament and the Assembly of North Macedonia have been working together since 2016 on projects involving civic education, public relations and parliamentary oversight of the state budget and finances. The official visit to Skopje was therefore also an opportunity to take stock of the
technical cooperation between the two parliaments.
On 14 October, the Swiss delegation travelled to the Bregalnica region to visit the Kočani water treatment plant, a project funded by Switzerland’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs.
Press conference by the president of the National Council, Irène Kälin, and Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Shalva Papuashvili
Irène Kälin in talks with the Georgian prime minister, Irakli Garibashvili
Group photo of the round table talks between Ms Kälin and representatives of Georgian NGOs active in promoting women’s rights in Georgia
Swiss delegation in Georgia: president of the National Council, Irène Kälin, with first vice-president, Martin Candinas, and second vice-president, Eric Nussbaumer
Swiss delegation being welcomed to Skopje in North Macedonia by the president of the Assembly of North Macedonia, Talat Xhaferi
President of the National Council, Irène Kälin, during her address to the Assembly of the North Macedonia
Irène Kälin before her meeting with Prime Minister Dimitar Kovachevski
Ms Kälin meeting with the president of the Republic of North Macedonia, Stevo Pendarovsk