At the international conference dedicated to the 1,700th anniversary of the proclamation of Christianity as the state religion in Georgia, presentations on the institution of the family and traditional values were delivered as part of a thematic discussion.

The international conference was held under the auspices of the Parliament of Georgia and the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy.

During the second session of the international conference, chaired by Mariam Lashkhi, Chair of the Interim Commission on Women’s and Children’s Issues, speakers discussed the challenges facing the institution of the family in the modern world and demographic issues.

During the thematic panel, Levan Makashvili, Chair of the EU Integration Committee, spoke about the role and importance of the Orthodox Church in shaping Georgian identity.

Presentations during the thematic panel were delivered by Thomas Froehlich, Member of the European Parliament; Gerhard Pross, Coordinator of the organization “Together for Europe”; Panikos Leonidou, Member of the House of Representatives of Cyprus and Member of the International Secretariat of the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy; Rafael Hüseynov, Deputy Speaker of the Milli Majlis of the Republic of Azerbaijan; Christos Economou, Head of the Department of Theology at the University of Nicosia; and Tsovinar Vardanyan, Member of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia.

The international conference concluded with the adoption of the “Tbilisi Declaration”.