NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for Caucasus, Central Asia to visit Georgia today
NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, was appointed to the post earlier this year. Photo: Javier Colomina’s Twitter account.
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Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who took the office of the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia back in September 2021, will visit Georgia today.
While in Tbilisi, he will meet the Georgian president, prime minister, parliament speaker, defence minister, foreign minister, civic society representatives and will also visit the occupation line.
Colomina is on his regional tour.
He has already visited Azerbaijan and will leave for Armenia from Georgia.
As part of my trip to the South Caucasus, today I finished my first visit to Azerbaijan ????????. It won’t be the last. I had very fruitful meetings with FMinister @bayramov_jeyhun, the speaker of the parliament @Speaker_Az, DMinister Hasanov, and with resident ambassadors of #NATO. pic.twitter.com/pdvmr4aLU6
— Javier Colomina (@JavierColominaP) October 18, 2021
Colomina also serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
His predecessor James Appathurai had occupied the post for the last 10 years and was awarded the order of the Golden Fleece for his special contribution to strengthen NATO-Georgia relations and support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity by Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili.
Georgia joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC) in 1992 soon after the country declared its independence.
Georgia's key foreign and security policy priorities are membership in the EU and NATO.
Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina has taken the office of the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia today. He will also serve as Deputy Assistant Secretary-General (ASG) for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia for the past 10 years, is holding his last meetings in Georgia in the role. He has already met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and the country’s opposition. Zalkaliani has described Appathurai as ‘a big friend of Georgia, who has done his utmost to make Georgia’s NATO integration progress irreversible.’
In 2018, NATO will assess the progress of states aspiring to become a member of the organization, including Georgia, James Appathurai NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia said adding that NATO will continue working on bringing aspiring countries further into the fold of the alliance.
Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Political Affairs and Security Policy and NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai have told Georgian PM Mamuka Bakhtadze that the alliance will further boost its support for Georgia next year and the assistance will also be revealed in many high-level visits from Brussels.
The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, who is on his first official visit to Georgia, has stated that Georgia is one of NATO’s major partners and that the country ‘has used’ all practical mechanisms offered by the alliance. “NATO wants a comprehensive relationship with Georgia,” Colomina said after his meeting with Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani late yesterday.
The NATO Secretary General's newly appointed Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, has met with Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili earlier today in Tbilisi and vowed that his tenure will see NATO-Georgia relations deepen even further. Garibashvili and Colomina have discussed NATO’s open-door policy, prospects for Georgia’s integration into the alliance and praised the country’s reforms in defense and the strengthening of democratic institutions.
The NATO Secretary General's newly appointed Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Javier Colomina, has completed his first official visit to Georgia and has tweeted that Georgia and NATO ‘will definitely continue to look for ways to enhance NATO’s engagement.’
Spanish diplomat Javier Colomina, who has recently taken the office of NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, says the alliance is not discussing the option of Georgia joining NATO with its fifth article on collective defence covering only the Tbilisi-administered territory.
Alexander Vinnikov, the new Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, on Thursday said he was holding meetings with representatives of the ruling and opposition parties in the country to brief them on the alliance’s growing political and practical support.