During his visit, Prof. Gunter Verheugen, having a wide expertise in conflict studies, will familiarize with the Georgia’s integration process with the EU, the Georgian conflict settlement policies and the current situation with regard to this process.

The visit of the former European Commissioner will start with the business lunch with the State Minister Mr. Paata Zakareishvili and the First Deputy State Minister Ms. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili.

Prof. Gunter Verheugen will also hold meetings at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and the Office of the State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration; he will also meet with experts and deliver a lecture at Ilia State University on: "The EU and its Eastern Partnership: Challenges and Opportunities". Prof. Gunter Verheugen will share his experience on Eastern Partnership, conflict management practices within Europe and the realistic possibilities for their possible future settlement.

Within the auspices of the visit, the former European Commissioner, together with Ms. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili, will trip to village Atotsi to study the situation that emerged due to the installation of Barbed Wire Fences by the Russian military servicemen. Other Ambassadors of the EU member states will visit the Division Line as well.

"It is very important to have such a high-profile and prestigious politician in Georgia. He will visit the villages separated by the Division Lines and see the face of current Russian occupation in Georgia with his very eyes. Prof. Gunter Verheugen is a German politician. They are particularly well-aware what the Berlin Wall and the dividing communities have been. Considering his unique experience and expertise in EU Enlargement and Neighborhood policies, this visit is reasonably important today, against the background of recent events in Ukraine, which is immensely important for the future of Eastern Partnership countries as a whole", - the First Deputy State Minister Ms. Ketevan Tsikhelashvili declared.

Prof. Gunter Verheugen was European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighborhood Policy between 1999-2004 years. In 2004-2010 he was the Vice-President of European Commission for Enterprise and Industry.

Prof. Gunter Verheugen will leave Georgia on March 7.