The State Minister for Reconciliation and Civic Equality Ketevan Tsikhelashvili and OSCE High Commissioner for Ethnic Minorities Lamberto Zannier opened a round table on the Graz Recommendations on Access to Justice and National Minorities.

Public Defender Nino Lomjaria and Ambassador of Italy to Georgia, Antonio Enrico Bartoli, spoke about the current situation in the country as well.

Ketevan Tsikhelashvili drew attention to the challenges facing ethnic minority representatives in Georgia. According to her, the State Minister's Office and the Government of Georgia have a fruitful cooperation with the OSCE High Commissioner for Ethnic Minorities and its Office.

"They have repeatedly noted that Georgia has one of the most successful and progressive policies in terms of civil integration in relation to national minorities. I think the effectiveness of this policy is that we are constantly doing the analysis of the challenges and taking retaliatory steps. Of course, we are not satisfied with today's results. The fact that we are the first in the region does not mean that we have no challenges.

"We have specifically talked about Graz's recommendation on access to justice. I think we have made the biggest step - we have anti-discrimination legislation. We are ready to work together with our partners for the remaining challenges. In this regard, the situation has significantly improved. However, it is obvious that such problems exist in any society and the State is obliged to respond effectively to discrimination. All of our institutions are ready to do so", - said the State Minister.

The aim of Graz's Recommendations is to help OSCE States to improve access of ethnic minorities to justice and to develop confidence in the judiciary.