US General Allen: "I’m proud I served with Georgian soldiers"

Georgia’s Minister of Defence Tinatin Khidasheli is in Slovakia to attend the GLOBSEC 2016 Global Security Forum in Bratislava.

The international event serves as a key platform for pre-summit debates in the run up to the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Warsaw Summit in July. 

GLOBSEC, a premier foreign policy and security forum in Central Europe and one of the top five conferences of its kind in the world, was scheduled to focus on security topics and existing safety challenges. 

Khidasheli said the forum was a destination for hundreds of the most influential experts, politicians and world leaders and while there she would hold several meetings to promote Georgian interests. 

Today on day one of the conference Minister Khidasheli met the United States (US) Special Presidential Envoy for the Global Coalition to Counter ISIL (radical Islamic Group-Islamic State), General John Allen. 

Allen stressed he supported Georgia’s integration into NATO and said he would actively help to enhance closer ties between Georgia and America.

Allen thanked Georgia for its contribution to international peace and said he was proud he served alongside Georgian soldiers in Afghanistan. 

While abroad Khidasheli was scheduled to meet NATO Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow,  NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy James Appathurai,  Minister of Defence of Slovakia Peter Gajdos and other foreign  ministers and officials. 

GLOBSET 2016 will run until April 17.