NATO envoy positively disposed towards Georgia’s Defence Minister

"An encouraging start” is how NATO’s regional representative assessed the early activities of Georgia’s newly appointed Defence Minister after the pair met for the first time today.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia region James Appathurai and Georgia’s Defence Minister Mindia Janelidze met in Brussels.

"He has a clear idea of his Ministry's priorities, a focus on the implementation of the Substantial Package to help speed up Euro-Atlantic integration and understands both the strategy and the detail of his portfolio,” Appathurai wrote on his official Facebook page after the meeting.

"I was also pleased to hear that there is a good handover with his predecessor, Irakli Alasania. Overall, from my point of view, an encouraging start.”

Janelidze is a member of the Georgian delegation led by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, who are on a two-day visit to Brussels.

Janelidze took the Defence Minister role on November 5 after previous Minister Alasania was dismissed by the PM following Alasania's comments on the arrest of multiple Defence Ministry high officials.