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• The President of Georgia Meets with the President of Montenegro

  The President of Georgia, H.E. Giorgi Margvelashvili has met with the President of Montenegro, H.E. Filip Vujanović. The parties have discussed the current relations between the two countries and the prospects of further strengthening cooperation. At the meeting the importance of strengthening political and economic cooperation was highlighted. President Margvelashvili has thanked President Vujanović for his support of Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and invited President Vujanović to Georgia. The meeting was also attended by the Head of the Administration of the President of Georgia Mr. Giorgi Abashishvili, the Secretary of the National Security Council Mr. Davit Rakviashvili, the Secretary of the President of Georgia for Foreign Affairs Mr. Tengiz Pkhaladze, and the Ambassador of Georgia to the Republic of Azerbaijan, Mr. Teimuraz Sharashenidze.
• PACE to observe the parliamentary elections in Montenegro

  A 10-member PACE delegation, led by Aleksander Pociej (Pologne, PPE/DC), will travel to Montenegro from 14 to 17 October to observe the parliamentary elections, alongside observers from the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly and the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR).
  The delegation will meet the leaders of the main political parties competing in the elections, the State Election Commission, the European Union Delegation, as well as representatives of civil society and the media, before before observing the ballot on 16 October.
  A joint press conference is scheduled for Monday 17 October (Hotel & Experiences The Capital Plaza Cetinjska 7Grand room, 1 st floor at provisional at 3 pm).

• No country has the right to interfere the process of Georgia's membership in NATO-Jens Stoltenberg

  NATO Secretary General answered some questions at press conference in Georgia. The journalist from Reuters News Agency asked him what role Russia plays in political decision making over Georgia’s membership in NATO because Russia is opposing NATO’s enlargement.
  Jens Stoltenberg answered: “For NATO it is a fundamental principle that every nation has the right to decide its own path including, what kind of security arrangements or military alliance it wants to be part of. And this not the only principle that NATO has subscribed to but it’s actually a principle that also Russia and all other European nations have subscribed to many, many times starting with the Helsinki Final Act back in the 1970s and then repeatedly done so in different international treaties. So for every sovereign nation, for every independent nation as Georgia it is a fundamental right to choose whether it wants to be a member of the Alliance or whether it doesn’t want to be a member of the Alliance.
  That’s the independent decision of an independent nation. So whether Georgia is going to become member of NATO or not is up to NATO, the 28 allies and Georgia to decide, nobody else has the right to interfere or try to veto or try to intervene in that process. And this has been underlined by NATO again and again and NATO’s door remains open and that has been shown many, many times despite protests, despite expressions from Russia that they dislike the enlargement of NATO; NATO has continued to enlarge.
  And we are now in the process of moving from 28 to 29 members because Montenegro is in the process of becoming the 29th member of NATO, showing that the door is open. NATO’s door to enlargement is still open and it’s still functioning. So, this of course also applies for Georgia and that’s the reason why we made a decision we made in Bucharest. I was there myself and that’s the reason why we have also reaffirmed that decision as late as at our Summit in Warsaw in July.”

• Georgia in the list of safe countries of origin

  Royal Decree from 3 August 2016 establishing the list of safe countries of origin was published in the Belgian Official Gazette and came into force. Besides the same countries as for previous years, the new list now also includes Georgia.
  The list of safe countries of origin now inlcudes the following eight countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, FYROM, Kosovo, Serbia, Montenegro, India, Georgia.
  The fact that an asylum applicant originates from a safe country of origin does not automatically mean that his/her application will not be taken into consideration. However the asylum applicant will have to put forward substantial arguments to demonstrate that his country of origin can not be considered as safe due to specific personal circumstances.

• The meeting of the Speaker with the President of the Parliament of Montenegro

  The Speaker, Mr. David Usupashvili held the meeting with the President of the Parliament of Montenegro, Mr. Darko Pajovic. The parties discussed bilateral cooperation, ongoing OSCE PA annual session in Tbilisi, integration of Georgia and Montenegro to EU and NATO. The Speaker congratulated Mr. Pajovic with membership of Montenegro to NATO. After the meeting, the Speakers made the joint statement. As Mr. Usupashvili stated, the two countries share common goals and tasks. 
  “As you know, Georgia and Montenegro issues were under consideration in simultaneous mode and then we, Georgians were asked by NATO if we mind if Montenegro accesses to NATO first. Our immediate response was that Montenegro issue shall not be postponed if Georgia issue is postponed because if we want stronger NATO, we want more states in NATO as Georgia will have better chance to obtain desired results in this direction”.
  Mr. Pajovic thanked the Speaker and Georgian people for hospitality and stated that integration of Montenegro to NATO is one more message for Georgia that the doors of NATO are open. “It is one more confirmation of similarity of our countries, of friendship of our countries and I would like to express my gratitude for organization of the 25^th annual session of OSCE PA. It is high honor to host OSCE PA and it means also huge responsibility. OSCE always supported our countries in our democratic development. I would like also to thank Georgia for messages and support. After Montenegro signed NATO Accession Protocol, I believe that success of Montenegro will be the strong message for other states and confirmation that the doors of NATO are open”.