Finland, Republic of

Relations between Georgia and the Republic of Finland

Diplomatic relations between Georgia and the Republic of Finland were established on 8 July 1992.

Diplomatic mission of Georgia to the Republic of Finland was opened in 2011.

Fields of Cooperation

Georgia and the Republic of Finland closely cooperate in the political, inter-parliamentary, economic, defence and education fields.

High-level visits are exchanged between the two countries and a political dialogue is conducted at the executive and legislative level. The Georgian and Finnish Foreign Ministers held a meeting in Geneva, in 2020. In November 2018, after an almost 6-year-break, the Foreign Minister of Georgia paid a bilateral visit to Finland. The same year, the President of the Republic of Finland, Sauli Niinistö paid a visit to Georgia on the occasion of the 100^th anniversary since the foundation of the first Democratic Republic of Georgia.

Finland firmly supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and the policy of non-recognition with respect to the occupied territories, both in bilateral and multilateral formats. Besides, Finland joins the Resolution on „Status of Internally Displaced Persons and Refugees from Abkhazia, Georgia and the Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia, Georgia” annually submitted by Georgia to the UN General Assembly. Moreover, Finland is actively involved in the EU Monitoring Mission (EUMM) in Georgia.

Of great importance is Finland’s support for Georgia’s EU integration process. It needs to be highlighted that Finland actively participates in the implementation of the EU twining projects by Georgia. From 2013 to 2017, Finland was involved in projects aimed at training representatives of the investigative service and academy under the Ministry of Finance of Georgia. The projects were also designed to ensure the institutional modernization of the Ministry.

Inter-parliamentary cooperation between the two countries is also developing positively. The Group of Friendship with Georgia at the Finnish Parliament is chaired by Matias Marttinen, a member of the National Coalition Party, while the Group of Friendship with Finland at the Georgian Parliament is led by Mariam Lashkhi.

The two countries are also deepening their ties in the economic and tourism sectors. Georgia’s  regular participation in the largest travel fair in Northern Europe “MATKA” is worthy of special mention. The tourist magazine MONDO – one of the key participants of the aforesaid fair named Georgia among the top five tourist destinations of 2018. In January 2020, Georgia was named „Foreign Destination of the Year”

In order to further deepen trade-economic relations between the two countries, Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Georgian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Finpro -  the  Finnish trade promotion organization. 

Cooperation is active in defence sector, more specifically, in areas of cybersecurity, reserve forces and mobilization. Of particular importance is Finland’s involvement in the development of Georgia’s total defence concept.

The Georgian and Finish Education Ministries signed Memorandum on Mutual Cooperation in 2019. The same year, through the funding of the Georgian Group Alliance and with the support of the Finnish Educational Consortium, multi-profile Finnish school was set up in Saguramo.

Useful Links:

Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Finland 
Government of the Republic of Finland 
Parliament of the Republic of Finland