The event, organized by Prof. Dr Verena Blechinger-Talcott, Vice President for International Affairs at the Free University of Berlin and Jun.-Prof. Theocharis Grigoriadis, Ph.D., C.Sc., Research Group Leader of the Department of Economics at the Institute for Eastern European Studies in Berlin, took place as part of the Long Night of Sciences on June 15, 2019. The roundtable aimed to discuss the following aspects: 1) a set of EU policies toward conflict resolution in the region in the light of EU-Russian relations and NATO involvement in the Black Sea, 2) persistence dynamics and long-run effects of imperial cosmopolitanism and Soviet diversity in contemporary spaces of conflict such as Sokhumi and Stepanakert, historical metropolitan areas such as Trabzon and Batumi, and modern capitals such as Tbilisi, Yerevan and Baku, and 3) the role of international civil society and local citizen initiatives in dealing with the imminent consequences of conflict and displacement. 

Apart from the Ambassador Dr Khokrishvili, the roundtable was attended by Dr Zaal Andronikashvili, cultural scientist at the Leibniz Center for Literary and Cultural Research and Ira Konyukhova, artist and founder of Transitory White, online magazine on contemporary art and art discourses in the Caucasus and Central Asia.

In his keynote speech, Khokrishvili discussed the trends in Georgian foreign policy, which prioritise integration of Georgia into the European and Euro-Atlantic structures. In this context, the Ambassador of Georgia highlighted the practical aspects of political, economic and cultural integration. In addition, Dr Khokrishvili underlined a geostrategic importance of Georgia as a transport corridor with regard to EU-China relations. Dr Khokrishvili also spoke about the situation in the Russian-occupied areas of Abkhazia and the Zchinvali region (South Ossetia) and how it is hindering the European and Euro-Atlantic integration ambitions of Georgia.

• - https://www.fu-berlin.de/presse/informationen/fup/2019/fup_19_167-kaukasus-round-table/index.html
• - https://www.facebook.com/EmbassyOfGeorgiaInGermany/posts/2477134445682963?__tn__=K-R
• - https://www.oei.fu-berlin.de/en/institut/termine/Conflict-_-Development-in-the-Caucasus-_Roundtable_.html?fbclid=IwAR3IvCI16DTZvse0QNQFtz7TGVo5ExRxL7x5KKsTcG_wZiJmmyo2S5437RM