On 27 November, Georgia assumed the Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe for a 6-month period (November 2019 – May 2020).

David ZALKALIANI, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and new Chair of the Committee of Ministers, presented the priorities of the Georgian Presidency, which feature the promotion of the Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe programme.

Mr. David ZALKALIANI (Georgia), new Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, and Mrs. Amélie DE MONTCHALIN (France), former Chair of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe

In order to implement the activities in the framework of the CM Presidency, Georgia provided the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe (EPA) with a financial contribution to host an exhibit on Cultural Routes crossing Georgia and a special event in the framework of the annual Governing Board meeting of the EPA to take place in Luxembourg on 1-3 April 2020.

The European Institute of Cultural Routes (EICR), Luxembourg, will be delivering a Training on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe to Georgian Ministry officials and local stakeholders in Tbilisi on 5-6 December 2019.

Georgia will host the 11th Annual Advisory Forum on Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe in Kutaisi in 2021.

Levan KHARATISHVILI, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia, is the representative of Georgia to the EPA Governing Board and its Vice-chair.