President Kavelashvili: Serbian, Georgian peoples hold each other in ‘high esteem’

Georgian President Mikheil Kavelashvili on Friday summed up his official visit to the Republic of Serbia, highlighting the strong mutual respect and longstanding friendship between the Serbian and Georgian peoples.

The President expressed his gratitude to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić for the “warm, constructive and partnership-based” meetings, noting that despite the close ties between the two countries, this marked the first visit by a Georgian President to Serbia at the presidential level.

“The Serbian and Georgian peoples hold each other in high esteem. Just as we value Serbs in Georgia, Georgians and Georgia are highly respected here as well. We share much in common - one faith, shared values and very similar historical experiences in defending our national interests,” Kavelashvili said.

He noted that high-level meetings focused on deepening bilateral cooperation across a range of areas, including trade and economic relations, agriculture and military production. The President added a bilateral commission meeting on trade and economic issues is expected to take place in the near future.

Kavelashvili also pointed to positive developments in transport connectivity, noting that flights between Belgrade and Georgia now operate three times a week and are nearly full in both directions.

The President highlighted cooperation in culture, sports, education and youth policy, announcing plans for joint youth camps that will allow Serbian and Georgian young people to visit each other’s countries and strengthen people-to-people ties.

Discussions also addressed political challenges related to relations with the European Union. Kavelashvili said Georgia and Serbia share similar positions on EU-related issues and both consider the double standards sometimes applied from Brussels to be unfair.

“We both see ourselves as part of Europe and believe our countries deserve greater respect. In this regard, we support one another and share a common view,” he stated.

Kavelashvili added that Georgia continues to feature prominently in international rankings across various fields, including economic growth, transparency, governance and the justice system and said this positive trajectory is expected to continue.