The
three-day visit of MR. FABIAN HAMILTON, Member of the UK Parliament, Shadow
Minister for Peace and Disarmament was organized by Business and Economic
Centre (BEC) together with the UK-based International Association – Enterprise
and Parliamentary Dialogue International (EPDI), and with support of Crystal
Fund.
The official meetings were held with:
- MR. GEORGE VOLSKI, Deputy Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, member of the Temporary Commission on Territorial Integrity of the Parliament;
- Georgian MPs: MS. SOPHIO KATSARAVA, the Chairwoman of the Foreign Relations Committee; MR. ZVIAD KVACHANTIRADZE, the Chairman of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee and MR. IRAKLI MEZURNISHVILI, Deputy Chairman of the Diaspora and Caucasus Issues Committee;
- MS. KETEVAN TSIKHELASHVILI, State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality of Georgia;
- MR. JUSTIN MCKENZIE SMITH, British Ambassador to Georgia;
- MR. VAKHTANG KOLBAIA, The Chairman of the Government of the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia;
- Experts and representatives of local and international NGOs working on conflict resolution and peace-building: among them: MS. OLESYA VARTANYAN, MR. LEVAN GERADZE, MR. GIA ABASHIDZE, MR. MIKHEIL MIRZIASHVILI, MS. KETEVAN CHACHAVA, MR. JUBA MARUASHVILI, MR. DAVID LEE, MR. NUKRI MILORAVA and MR. ALU GAMAKHARIA;
- IDPs as well as beneficiaries and partners of Crystal Fund from Abkhazia.
British
guests – Mr. Fabian Hamilton and Mr. Frederick R. Hyde-Chambers OBE, Executive
Chairman of the EPDI visited the village of Khurvaleti’s shelter for the
elderly “House without Borders”. The head of the shelter, Leda Salia, showed
the guests the barbed wire fences made by the Russian occupation regime.
In addition, there was a special Tbilisi City Tour organized by MR. GIORGI
DARTSIMELIA, the John Smith Trust fellow, founder of the TeamBuilding.ge and
Queen Tamada. The British guests had an opportunity to visit the historical
part of the city, Kashveti Church, and explore Tbilisi’s unique architectural
heritage as well as history of Georgian-Jewish Relations.