The President of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities, Anders Knape, paid an official visit to Georgia from 22 to 25 February 2020, organised in the framework of the Georgian chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe. Accompanied by Congress Secretary General Andreas Kiefer, the president had meetings with senior representatives of national and local Georgian institutions and authorities. The talks focused, among other things, on the decentralisation strategy that the Georgian government has just adopted in response, in particular, to the recommendations made by the Congress following its monitoring visit in 2018. Other topics of discussion were the priorities of the Georgian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers, the Congress's co-operation with the National Association of Local Authorities of Georgia (NALAG) and the Congress's co-operation programmes in the country.
In Tbilisi, Anders Knape met with the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Lasha Darsalia and the Vice-premier and Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure, Mrs Maya Tskitishvili. He also held meetings with the Deputy Chairman of Parliament, Mr Kakhaber Kuchava, the Mayor of Tbilisi and the head of the Georgian Delegation to the Congress and President of NALAG, Mr Kakha Kaladze, and the Public Defender, Ms Lomjaria Nino.
Meetings were also scheduled in Gori with the Mayor, Mr Konstantin Tavzarashvili, and the Governor of Shida Kartli region, Mr Giorgi Khojevanishvili.
Meetings with the Vice-President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Mr Irakli Kobakhidze, and with the members of the Georgian delegation to the Congress completed the visit.
