Georgian President in Washington

President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelasvili has left Brussels to fly for a state visit to the United States. Most of his time will be spent in the US capital, Washington, D.C.

Margvelashvili recently visited top diplomats in Brussels, including EU officials. His stay included a discussion on closer cooperation between Georgia and the EU as well as vital integration questions, including economic and social liberalizations.

He is expected to meet NATO top officials in Washington to discuss recent success in closer integration into NATO.

Margvelashvili wants to foster the relationship between NATO and Georgia, highlighting Georgia’s Russian occupied territories. Russia is in control of roughly 20% of Georgia’s territory, a situation condemned heavily by the international community.

In Brussels, President Margevlashvili met with US Congressmen and Senators to discuss security issues on a national and regional level. He held a meeting with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Jens Stoltenberg, to discuss Georgia’s prospective integration to the Alliance, dynamics of the current cooperation and future plans.

At the meeting, Stoltenberg invited President Margvelashvili to NATO 2018 Brussels Summit. Georgia will attend the Summit as an aspirant country and a valuable partner of the Alliance.

The US is concerned by the meddling of Russian forces in the Caucasus region which is said to be driving a wedge between the different ethnic groups in Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Armenia. Through the meetings in Washington, the Georgian President hopes that US politicians will raise their voice for Georgian security issues at the upcoming NATO summit.

Additionally, in Washington, representatives of the Atlantic Council, the National Democratic Institute (NDI) and the International Republican Institute (IRI) will give a public lecture at the US-Georgia Partnership conference at Georgetown University, which the Georgian President is expected to attend, followed by a roundtable discussion at Hudson University. Margvelashvili is also expected to deliver a speech at the Heritage Foundation.

Besides the diplomatic appointments, he has reserved time to meet representatives of the Georgian diaspora in Washington.

The President is expected to return from the US on March 16.

Benjamin Music