SVG to continue foreign relations with Georgia

This country will continue to have foreign relations with Georgia, despite the recent change in government there.{{more}}

“I have already instructed Ambassador [Camillo] Gonsalves at the United Nations to speak with the current ambassador who is there and anybody who is replaced so that we can continue to build our relationship,” Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves said at a media briefing on Wednesday.

President Mikheil Saakashvili conceded his party’s defeat to a coalition headed by billionaire businessman Bidzina Ivanishvili following the October 1 elections in Georgia.

Ivanishvili is set to become the next prime minister, but Saakashvili will remain president until presidential elections next October.

“I expect whoever … I have to work with them if I want to build relations with the people’s internal democratic choice,” Gonsalves said.

“But what it tells you is that in our small countries you have to build and be prepared to be flexible,” Gonsalves said.

He explained that the same thing happened following general elections in Trinidad and Tobago, when former prime minister and personal friend Patrick Manning lost to Kamla Persad-Bissessar.

“Mature people take these things in stride … the matter becomes complicated but you have to be mature to work out the complication and always keep steadfast to certain principles,” Gonsalves said.

Georgia contributed to the construction of the international airport at Argyle earlier this year.

At a press conference in January, Gonsalves announced that part of the $1 million donation had been received, with the rest to follow.

On January 4, the prime minister announced that Georgia had made a commitment to contribute to purchasing vehicles for work on the international airport project.

He made the announcement following a visit to Georgia, Azerbaijan and Palestine last December. (DD)