“I think, now it’s maybe time when the Western society and the democratic society could really send the sign of solidarity not only to the Ukrainian people but also to the people of Georgia and Moldova in the aspiration to become the part of the European family”, - the Speaker, Shalva Papuashvili stated after the meeting with the President of Storting, Masud Gharahkhani.

The Speaker dwelt on the challenges in the region and in this context, stressed the importance of the Euro-Atlantic integration.

“As the chairman of the Parliament newly elected as you my colleague, I, of course, have a challenge in this challenging time and on the other hand what we have in the region with Russian aggression against Ukraine to express the solidarity to our Ukrainian brothers and sisters and at the same time, to rethink the approaches and perspectives of the role of NATO and EU in the region. In this regard, you know Georgia has just recently applied for the EU membership and the Georgian people are waiting for the positive decision of the EU”.

According to him, Norway is one of the closest partners and the strongest supporters of the development of democratic institutions and NATO integration.

Speaking about the security challenges, the Speaker underlined that it was something that could be predicted carrying in mind the Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008, and Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014.

“We both visited Ukraine and met with our colleagues. I think it is important that this development which on the one hand was not so easy to predict and on the other hand it was something that could be predicted carrying in mind the Russian aggression against Georgia in 2008, Russian aggression in Ukraine in 2014 but still now it's maybe time when the Western society and the democratic society could really send the sign of solidarity to the Ukrainian people but also to the people of Georgia and Moldova in the aspiration to become the part of the European family and to send the right signals to Russia that the democratic aspirations of the people and aspiration to be the part of the democratic society could not be prevented by any country”, - he stated