H.E. Mr. George Zurabashvili:

I thank the Deputies for their interest. It is pleasant to be here among friends. To respond to Deputy Clarke, I, too, recall our Zoom call, in which we had a substantial discussion. Regarding the creeping border and the creeping annexation and occupation that Russia is conducting as we speak, it is grabbing more and more land. The problem is that Russia is not only not withdrawing troops from Georgian soil but adding more and more. With the creeping annexation, Russia is instilling more fear in the local population and, of course, it results in more torture and murder. We have a strong aspiration to become a NATO member, with the support of 76% of the Georgian population. According to surveys, Georgians very much support European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

We see NATO not only as a good defender for ourselves but also as a way to approximate our standards to NATO standards. Our military already co-operates well with NATO headquarters. As I noted, we participated in almost all US-led and NATO-led counterterrorism operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. There are some examples of countries that have become NATO members later having problems, such as Germany, but that should not be a problem for us. We strongly believe this is the right direction for the further progress of the country. NATO concerns not only military; it is a strong democracy with many other requirements to secure membership, which we are fulfilling quite well and on which we are making progress.

Deputy Brady is absolutely correct to say resolutions sometimes do not work, but what else do we have? They are a tool to be vocal and to make Russia accountable to international law. We are talking about being accountable to international law and to fulfilling obligations once a country has signed a resolution. We very much look forward to hearing the voice of Ireland, as a future non-permanent member, on the UN Security Council.

We very much look forward to and hope there will be many initiations coming out from Ireland on Georgia's behalf to support us in the United Nations.

Our bilateral relations are quite strong. I would like to see business and economy develop further. This is the most important element that can cement any strong political relations we already have. We would love to see more Irish businesses and more investments from Ireland go to Georgia. Again, we are offering our soil, our land and our markets for Irish businesses. We hope they will take up this idea and enjoy doing business in or with Georgia.

It is always nice to have sports events like rugby and soccer. We will have many other enjoyable matches and games ahead. We are doing quite well but we are still not members of the Six Nations. We are struggling to become the seventh member. We were here several times at the Aviva Stadium and we were too polite to win. I hope our skills will get better. Rugby and soccer are very popular in Georgia. All my friends are great fans. It is similar to here.