67th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly, Mephis Kalaki, Kaspi Region, Georgia, 30 June – 1 July 2026
The 67th Plenary Session of the PABSEC General Assembly was held in Mephis Kalaki, Kaspi Region, Georgia, on 30 June – 1 July 2026, at the invitation of the Parliament of Georgia.
The Opening Ceremony was addressed by H.E. Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, PABSEC President and Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia. Ms. Sofia Voultepsi, PABSEC Vice-President (Greece), expressed gratitude to H.E. Mr. Shalva Papuashvili, Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, for the successful PABSEC Presidency and awarded him on behalf of PABSEC the PABSEC Medal of Honour in recognition of his contribution to the activities of PABSEC.
H.E. Mr. Afrim Gashi, President of the Assembly of the Republic of North Macedonia, took part in the Opening Ceremony as a special guest and addressed the participants. Ms. Khatuna Totladze, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Mr. Irakli Mezurnishvili, Head of the PABSEC Georgian Delegation, and Mr. Borys Kolisnychenko, Deputy PABSEC Secretary General, also delivered opening addresses.
Parliamentary delegations from Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, the Republic of Moldova, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia, Türkiye, and Ukraine took part in the General Assembly. Representatives of the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS), the Union of Road Transport Associations of the BSEC Member States (BSEC-URTA), and the PABSEC Special Representatives also participated in the work of the General Assembly.
Representatives of the Parliamentary Assembly of Turkic States (TURKPA), the Parliamentary Union of the OIC Member States (PUIC), the Interparliamentary Assembly on Orthodoxy (IAO), and the Regional Secretariat for Parliamentary Cooperation in South-East Europe (RSPC SEE) took part in the work of the General Assembly as observers. Representatives of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace and the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) participated as guests.
The Assembly approved the Progress Report of the Assembly and the Minutes of the Sixty-Sixth Plenary Session and ratified the credentials of the new members of the Assembly from Albania, Bulgaria, and Georgia.
The Assembly elected Mr. Irakli Mezurnishvili, Head of the PABSEC Georgian Delegation, and Mr. Călin-Gheorghe Matieș, Head of the PABSEC Romanian Delegation, as PABSEC Vice-Presidents for a two-year term. The Assembly also elected Mr. Milen Trifonov, Head of the PABSEC Bulgarian Delegation, to the post of PABSEC Vice-President for a term ending in November 2027.
The Assembly elected Mr. Ali Üstündağ as PABSEC Deputy Secretary General in charge of Administrative and Financial Matters for a three-year term of office, commencing on 1 March 2027.
The Assembly approved the Auditing Report for 2025 financial year. The Assembly also took note of the information on the activities of the BSEC Organization, presented by Ambassador Lazar Comanescu, Secretary General of the Permanent International Secretariat of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC PERMIS). Representatives of the BSEC Related Bodies, parliamentary assemblies, and international organizations addressed the Plenary Session.
The Assembly held a General Debate on "Artificial Intelligence for Regional Cooperation: Innovation, Connectivity and Sustainable Development in the Black Sea Region." It adopted Report and Recommendation 208/2026, "Digital Transformation in the BSEC Member States," within the framework of the Committee on Economic and Development Policy; Report and Recommendation 209/2026, "Legal Dimensions of Digital Governance and Innovation in the BSEC Region," within the framework of the Committee on Legal Affairs and International Cooperation; and Report and Recommendation 210/2026, "Cultural Diplomacy for Strengthening Relations and Cooperation in the Black Sea Region," within the framework of the Committee on Social and Humanitarian Policy.
The rotation of the PABSEC Presidency from the Parliament of Georgia to the Hellenic Parliament took place.
The Assembly adopted the "Joint Statement of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation on the Russian Attack against the Kyiv-Pechersk Lavra, a UNESCO World Heritage Site under Enhanced Protection."
The next General Assembly will take place in Athens on 24–25 November 2026.