On June 18-19, 2015, the 12^th International Conference “Georgia’s European Road” dedicated to cooperation prospects between Georgia and the European Union was held in Batumi. The conference was attended by members of the Government, representatives of diplomatic corps, international and local organizations.

In the framework of the event, the Public Defender of Georgia had several important meetings. At the meeting with EU special representatives for the South Caucasus and crisis in Georgia Herbert Salberg spoke about importance of activities conducted by the Public Defender in the light of human rights protection in conflict regions. They stressed the importance of the Geneva talk format, talked about strengthening of its role in the sphere of human rights protection and greater involvement of the Public Defender in this process. They also stressed necessity of resumption of the format of meetings of Incident Prevention and Response Mechanims (IPRM) group. The Public Defender of Georgia also met with the Co-chair of the EU-Georgia Parliamentary Association Committee, member of the European Parliament Sajad Karim and provided information to him on the situation in human rights. The Public Defender noted that the situation improved in many directions, but there still are challenges including protection of rights of minorities, domestic violence, and absence of independent investigative Mechanism and labour inspections.

Sajad Karim stressed importance of strengthening of the EU activity. The parties mentioned that Georgia’s European Road is an irreversible process though constant work mode is necessary.