Zaza Vashakmadze, Chairman of the State Agency for Religious Issues, met with H.E. Gareth Ward, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland to Georgia.

The meeting focused on several key topics: Georgia’s religious policy; state-led initiatives to protect religious diversity and freedom of religion and to foster a tolerant environment; and the functions, goals, and objectives of the State Agency for Religious Issues.

Zaza Vashakmadze placed particular emphasis on the gross violations of human rights—including freedom of religion—in the occupied territories of Abkhazia and the Tskhinvali region. He also highlighted the encroachment upon religious sites in the occupied regions by the Russian side and the erasure of Georgian cultural identity there.

At the end of the meeting, the Ambassador was presented with the Agency’s publications: *Religions in Georgia*, “Functioning Cult Buildings in Tbilisi as of 2020” and “Functioning Cult Buildings in Georgia as of 2023”.