Tbilisi hosts high-level international conference

Political and security leaders, diplomats, academics and experts from the United States (US), Europe and wider Euro-Atlantic community are in Tbilisi to discuss the challenges facing Europe’s eastern nations today.

Georgia is hosting a two-day international conference - Europe’s New Geopolitical Landscape: Security, Economic Opportunity, Freedom and Human Dignity for the Frontline States – initiated and organised by the McCain Institute for International Leadership, in partnership with the Economic Policy Research Centre.

Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili spoke at the event earlier this morning.

The President said despite the fact Georgia’s economy had endured a lot of pressure over the past 25 years, there were occupational troops standing 40km away from Tbilisi and the country still had 300,000 internally displaced people, the nation continued to move forward.

"If we look at where we were [several years ago] and where we are now, I can only applaud our society and our political leadership,” President Margvelashvili said.

Meanwhile when Prime Minister Garibashvili spoke he summed up Georgia’s recent reform progress and talked about the country’s future plans.

He said along with developing strong democratic institutions, the Georgian Government’s three key directions were economic development, social welfare and protection of the country’s sovereignty.

Five former #NATO ambassadors at the @McCaininstitute's conference in Georgia. Bringing more NATO here! pic.twitter.com/q0eKsu1eIM

— Linas Linkevicius (@LinkeviciusL) September 7, 2015

Among the conference participants were Lithuania’s Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, Deputy Foreign Minister of Latvia Andrejs Pildegovics and former EU Commissioner for Enlargement Stefan Fule.

Other participants included US Army Europe Commander LTG Ben Hodges, former UK Ambassador to Latvia Ian Bond, former Diplomatic Adviser to the Italian President Ambassador Stefano Stefanini, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Democracy and Human Rights David Krame, former US Ambassador to NATO Kurt Volker and Russian democracy scholar Lilia Shevtsova.

The conference will end tomorrow.