New NATO Special Rep for Caucasus, Central Asia Javier Colomina takes office
Georgia's key foreign and security policy priorities are membership in the EU and NATO. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge.
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Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina has taken the office of the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia today.
He will also serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Today the new @NATO Deputy ASG for Political Affairs (#PASP) and Special Rep for the Caucasus and Central Asia, the ???????? diplomat, Javier Colomina, has taken office.
— España en la OTAN ???????? (@SpainNATO) September 1, 2021
Good luck in your new endeavours!
???? @SpainNATO pic.twitter.com/h7tGNpfHKM
Colomina’s predecessor James Appathurai had occupied the post for the last 10 years and was awarded the order of the Golden Fleece for his special contribution to strengthen NATO-Georgia relations and support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has tweeted:
Congrats to Javier Colomina on his appt as t/new DASG for Political Affairs & Security Policy & Special Rep. for t/Caucasus &Central Asia in @NATO!???????? is strongly committed to its goal to become t/member of t/Alliance. I'm sure, through joint efforts we'll achieve tangible results
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) September 3, 2021
Georgia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) in 1992 soon after the country declared its independence.
Georgia's key foreign and security policy priorities are membership in the EU and NATO.
James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia for the past 10 years, is holding his last meetings in Georgia in the role. He has already met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and the country’s opposition. Zalkaliani has described Appathurai as ‘a big friend of Georgia, who has done his utmost to make Georgia’s NATO integration progress irreversible.’
US Senator Jeanne Shaheen says that the US and NATO need to seriously consider NATO membership for Ukraine and Georgia, or at least provide a clear path for entry.
“Georgia’s relationship with the alliance contains all the practical tools to prepare for eventual membership. We are working closely with Georgia on security in the Black Sea region, in response to Russia’s increasingly destabilising activities, and welcome the steps taken to implement the refreshed Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. We stand ready to enhance our support to Georgia, including in building resilience against hybrid threats, in training and exercises, and in secure communications. We look forward to the next NATO-Georgia exercise in 2022,” said the communique.
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai have told Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze that the alliance will further boost its support for Georgia next year and the assistance will also be revealed in many high-level visits from Brussels.
Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who took the office of the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia back in September 2021, will visit Georgia today.
The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, who is on his first official visit to Georgia, has stated that Georgia is one of NATO’s major partners and that the country ‘has used’ all practical mechanisms offered by the alliance. “NATO wants a comprehensive relationship with Georgia,” Colomina said after his meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani late yesterday.
The NATO Secretary General's newly appointed Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, has met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili earlier today in Tbilisi and vowed that his tenure will see NATO-Georgia relations deepen even further. Garibashvili and Colomina have discussed NATO’s open-door policy, prospects for Georgia’s integration into the alliance and praised the country’s reforms in defense and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
The NATO Secretary General's newly appointed Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, has completed his first official visit to Georgia and has tweeted that Georgia and NATO ‘will definitely continue to look for ways to enhance NATO’s engagement.’
Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who has recently taken the office of NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, says the alliance is not discussing the option of Georgia joining NATO with its fifth article on collective defence covering only the Tbilisi-administered territory.
Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who has recently taken the office of NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, says Russia wants to dictate the choices countries like Georgia and Ukraine, responding to Moscow’s recent demand that the alliance should rescind a 2008 commitment to Ukraine and Georgia that they would one day become members.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with Alexander Vinikov, the new head of the NATO Liaison Office (NLO) in Georgia today, congratulating the official on his appointment.