Senator Gerard P. Craughwell:

This is the first time I have had the opportunity to welcome the ambassador to the committee. I congratulate him on his elevation and I wish him the very best.

I visited Batumi two years ago and was extremely impressed by, first and foremost, the work that is going on in the harbour there. It looks like it could be a major gateway between Asia and Europe. I wish Georgia well as it develops that area.

When I was there, I was also extremely impressed by the young people's level of education and their knowledge of the English language. It is almost second nature to them. That opens up the question of educational co-operation between the two countries, particularly visa-free transfers to open up opportunities for Irish students to study in Georgia and Georgian students to study here. What are the ambassador's views on that?

With the port in Batumi, there are opportunities for import and export right across the globe.

When I was in Batumi, there were several questions about Georgia meeting the rule of law for accession to the European Union, particularly to stamp out corruption of any sort. Where does that stand now?

The number of people serving in the Georgian military is staggering for a country of its size. It is almost 37,000. How many of them could be redeployed to other work if we solved the problem Georgia has on its borders with the Russian Federation?

In his presentation, the ambassador said the European Union needs to be stronger in its approach to Georgia and also referred to United Nations resolutions. In both cases, Mr. Zurabashvili is not the first ambassador to tell this committee about resolutions from the United Nations. Nobody seems to take any notice whatsoever of resolutions that are passed. What is his view on this? What exactly would he like the European Union to do in a way that would show a stronger response to the Russian Federation?