Georgia’s President-Elect Meets James Appathurai

Georgia’s President-Elect Salome Zurabishvili had a meeting with NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, in Tbilisi on December 12.

Zurabishvili says the meeting focused on Georgia-NATO cooperation, as well as NATO's constant support for all the issues that are the main challenges of our country, territorial integrity, conflicts, the occupation line and the security of our population.

“We also talked about the Black Sea security, which is a very important problem for Europe and NATO today,” she said.

The President-Elect added that she also talked about common concerns regarding security, including cybersecurity and the spread of false information, largely used by Russia.

“We talked about about Georgia’s participation in peacekeeping operations. It is very important that NATO is ready to be active in relation to us. My first visit will be paid to Brussels, where NATO and the EU are located. We need to strengthen these links," Zurabishvili said.

Before the meeting, Appathurai expressed NATO’s continued support to Georgia and its territorial integrity. 

“I saw Salome Zurabishvili's editorial several days ago, where she made it very clear that her intention was to carry out the will of the Georgian people – i.e. Euro-Atlantic integration. This is a clear and strong message,” he said. 

By Thea Morrison

Photo source: IPN