US voices support for Georgia’s foreign agenda

The new Foreign Minister of Georgia has a clear vision of the country’s foreign policy and the United States (US) is 100 percent supportive of Georgia’s vision, says a top US official.

The comments of US Ambassador to Georgia Richard Norland were made after he met with Georgia’s new Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili in Tbilisi today.

Afterward Norland said he was "very honoured” to have his first meeting with Minister Beruchashvili.

"She wanted to be very clear in stressing Georgia’s foreign policy, the appreciation that Georgia has for US as key strategic partner.”

"My message was basically that just as with the previous Minister and previous governments, we are 100 percent behind Georgia, working with Georgia to address these challenges together,” he said.

Norland also spoke positively of Beruchashvili’s plans to accompany Prime Minister to Brussels later this month for meetings with European Council and the NATO Secretary General.

"We also talked about the immediate challenges that Georgia faces in the region, the increasingly dangerous situation in eastern Ukraine and the concern that Georgia has about that,” Norland noted.

In addition, the sides discussed the situation at Georgia’s breakaway regions Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and the Kremlin-proposed 'Alliance and Integration' treaty with Abkhazia.