ARMENIA

There are nearly 250,000 Armenians in Georgia, among them 115,000 living in Samtskhe-
Javakheti and 83,000 in Tbilisi.[52] The Georgian minority in Armenia is less sizable.

 Armenia and Georgia have a long history of cultural and political relations. The
interaction peaked in the Middle Ages when both nations engaged in prolific
cultural dialogue and allied themselves against the neighboring Muslim empires.
There were frequent intermarriages between Armenian and Georgian the royal
and noble families and both ethnicities intermingled in several border areas.

 Armenia has an embassy in Tbilisi and general consulate in Batumi.

 Georgia has an embassy in Yerevan.

 Both countries are full members of the Euronest Parliamentary Assembly and the
EU's Eastern Partnership.

 Both countries were former Soviet Republicsof the former USSR. Armenia and
Georgia governments have had generally positive relations, but there have also been
some problems in the past. Georgia is a member of GUAM, which leaves Armenia out
of regional transportation and energy projects.

 Relations with Georgia are of particular importance for Armenia because, under the
border blockades imposed against Armenia by Turkey and Azerbaijan due to the
ongoing Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, Georgia offers Armenia its only land connection
with Europe and access to its Black Sea ports. However, because of Armenia's
reliance on Russia and Georgia, both of whom fought in the 2008 South Ossetia
war and severed diplomatic and economic relations as a result; and as 70% of
Armenia's imports entered via Georgia especially from Russia which has imposed an
economic blockade on Georgia. The President of Armenia Serzh Sargsyan has stated
that Armenia will not formally recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent
states any time soon but reiterated his support for their residents’ right to self-
determination, while adding that Armenia cannot recognise another entity in the same
situation as long as it has not recognised the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.[1] Georgia
supports resolution of Nagorno-Karabakh conflict within Azerbaijan's territorial
integrity. Georgian State Minister for Diaspora Affairs Mirza (Papuna) Davitaia has
stated that Georgia has unilaterally supported the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan and
 they back the liberation of the occupied territories of Azerbaijan.[2] Former Georgian
President Mikheil Saakashvili stated that "whoever opposes Azerbaijan" is Georgia's
"enemy.

Australia is accredited to Georgia from its embassy in Ankara, Turkey.

 Georgia has an embassy in Canberra.

See Georgia–United States relations

On 9 January 2009, the U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Georgian Foreign
Minister Grigol Vashadze signed a Charter on Strategic Partnership, a nonbinding document
outlining areas of cooperation and reiterating the U.S. support for Georgia's territorial
integrity and to Georgia's NATO membership.[50]

Georgian–American relations continue to be very close and encompass multiple areas of

bilateral cooperation. As a key U.S. ally in the war on terror, Georgia was the third largest
troop contributor in the Iraq War and is currently the largest per-capita contributor to the U.S.
led mission in Afghanistan. The United States for its part is actively assisting Georgia in
strengthening its state institutions in face of increasing pressure from its northern
neighbor Russia and has provided the country with financial assistance in excess of 3 billion
dollars since 1991.[1] Since 2009, Georgian–American relations are streamlined by the U.S.–
Georgia Charter on Strategic Partnership,which created four bilateral working groups on
priority areas of democracy; defense and security; economic, trade, and energy issues; and
people-to-people and cultural exchanges

Azerbaijan–Georgia relations refer to foreign relations between Azerbaijan and Georgia .

Azerbaijan has an embassy in Tbilisi. Georgia has an embassy in Baku. Both countries were
former Republics of the Soviet Union and are full members of the Council of Europe,
the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and the Organization of
the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). The two countries are among the founding
members of GUAM.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has described the relations as "whoever opposes
Azerbaijan or Georgia is an enemy of both our countries."

 China recognized the independence of Georgia on 27 December 1991.

 China has an embassy in Tbilisi.[56]

 Georgia has an embassy in Beijing.

 Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relations with Georgia

 Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs about the relations with China

2017, Georgia's foreign policy has been remarkably active, recording some achievements in
different directions.

The most important achievement of Georgia's foreign policy during the year was the
liberalization of the EU visa regime. The decision came into force on March 28, allowing
Georgian citizens to stay up to 90 days in the Schengen area without a visa. Visa
liberalization has become one of the most important destinations of Georgia's European
integration process. However, as some experts predicted, the cancellation of the visa regime
also created opportunities for illegal immigration. According to the Georgian MFA, 10,330
citizens of 165 059 Georgian citizens who have been using visa-free regime during 6 months
violated the regime's conditions. In order to prevent the flow of illegal migration, the EU set
the condition for "preliminary authorization" for Georgian citizens. In order to obtain a
"preliminary permit", a citizen must fill in a special application on the "European Access
Permit System" page, with reference to the place of employment, and the income. Besides,
there is a fee of 10 euros. Although new regulations have caused some dissatisfaction among
the Georgian public, it seems that all parties are aware of the need to adopt it.
In addition, in April 2017, the Georgian parliament ratified the agreement on joining the
European Energy Association, the negotiations over which started in 2014.

The year was quite active from the perspective of NATO-Georgia cooperation. First, it was
decided that another detachment would join the NATO Rapid Response Force. Besides, a
number of military exercises were arranged with the assistance of NATO in Georgia. One of
them was the "Valuable Partner -2017" exercise with 8 countries. 40 military men from
Armenia also participated in the exercises. Another large-scale exercise, organized by
Georgia and the United States, was held in September, with the participation of
representatives from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Latvia, Romania and Ukraine. It was originally
planned that Armenia (with 1 soldier) should also participate in the exercises, however,
according to some information, after the confirmation of Azerbaijan's participation, the
Armenian side canceled its participation.

Cooperation with the United States was also marked by bilateral reciprocal visits, one of
which may be highlighted by President Margvelashvili's visit to Washington where he
discussed bilateral relations with US President Donald Trump.

Georgia also succeeded in closer cooperation with the US State Department which decided to
sell $ 75 million anti-tank Javelin systems to Georgia in November. The decision first of all
has a great political significance, and if the deal is implemented, it will become
unprecedented in the context of US relations with the countries of the region.

Georgia's foreign policy achievements of 2017 can also include the Free Trade Agreement
with China in May. The six-month agreement will enter into force in early 2018, thanks to
which 96.5% of China's exports to Georgia and 90.9% of Georgia's exports to China will be
exempted from customs duties.

The format of Azerbaijan-Georgia-Turkey trilateral cooperation was also quite active during
the year. In June, the "Caucasus Eagle 2017" exercises took place aimed at developing joint
capabilities of the three countries' armed forces.

In the framework of the September meeting in Baku, the Ministers of the three countries
signed the Trilateral Sector Cooperation Action Plan for 2017-2019.

In addition, in May, the three countries' defense ministers met in Batumi, discussing issues
related to joint exercises and security of regional economic projects. And in October, the
heads of the General Staff of the three countries met for the first time in Tbilisi. Within the
framework of the meeting, they discussed regional security issues and exchanged views on
the development of cooperation in the trilateral format.

The most important achievement in trilateral cooperation was the exploitation in the Baku-
Tbilisi-Kars railway in late October. It is planned that the Baku-Tbilisi-Kars railway will
transport 17 million tons of cargo annually and up to one million passengers. The three
countries involved in the construction of the railway state that the project is an important
component of the Silk Road, which unites more than 60 countries around the world with
about 4.5 billion people.

As for the Russian-Georgian relations, despite the preserved tensions, some positive trends
have been recorded. At the beginning of the year, Gazprom Export and the Georgian side
reached an agreement on transit of Russian gas to Armenia, as well as the transit fee.
According to the agreements reached, the Russian side guarantees the payment of gas
transportation to Armenia via Georgia in the amount of 2-2.2 billion cubic meters per annum
in 2017-2018, as well as supply of gas to Georgia with flexible conditions. The deal with
Gazprom was seriously criticized by the opposition forces.

Tensions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia continued as bilateral visits to Tskhinvali and
Sukhumi were paid by Russian officials, military exercises were held and so on.

At the end of the year, the issue of implementation of the "Agreement on Transport" signed
between Russia and Georgia in 2011 was activated on the bilateral agenda. The agreement
provides for the creation of three transport corridors, including the territory of Abkhazia and
South Ossetia, the transit through which will not affect the status of these two entities. In
addition, transit control will be carried out by a third party, which, with the consent of the
parties, must be Swiss SGS Company.

In summary, we can say that the year was generally successful for Georgia's foreign policy,
with clearly stated achievements.