US official: Georgia is a brave nation

In Washington D.C. Georgia has a reputation of being a brave nation with a very strong army, says a United States (US) official.

Georgia’s Defence Minister met Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy James Townsend in Slovakia yesterday. The officials were in Bratislava to attend the 10th Global Security Forum, GLOBSEC 2016.

The pair discussed what would be the best use of increased US financial support to strengthen Georgia’s defence capability.

Townsend said meeting with the Georgian Minister and her team left a good impression on him.

"The meeting made me more motivated,” he said, adding Georgia was a big ally and friend of the US.

"Once I’m back in Washington I’ll meet the people working on Georgia and we will together think what else we can do to further deepen our relations.”

This meeting was one of 14 bilateral meetings Khidasheli held in Bratislava. She met senior officials from NATO and the European Union (EU) as well as Foreign Ministers of member states of these two organisations.

Defmin @tinakhidasheli: Latvia fulfilled all commitments implementing NATO Wales summit decisions to assist Georgia pic.twitter.com/KXV3YrBECA

— Edgars Rinkēvičs (@edgarsrinkevics) April 16, 2016

One of the important meetings was with Foreign Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina Igor Crnadak, as it marked the beginning of relations and set a strong foundation for future ties between the two countries.

Khidasheli said all the officials she met during the past several days fully supported Georgia and its integration into NATO and the EU.