New Departments to Be Set Up at Georgia's Foreign Ministry

From April 1, new structural units are to be created as a result of reorganization in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) of Georgia.

Among the new units will be the General Directorate for European Integration, the first public agency, where the European portfolio of General Directorate will be created.

The MFA reports that the creation of the General Directorate for European Integration directly echoes the foreign policy priorities of the country, adding European Integration and EU Assistance Coordination and Sector Integration Departments will be subordinated to it.

The duties of the European Integration Department include facilitating the integration process with the EU. The main goal of the EU Assistance Coordination and Sector Integration Department is to coordinate EU assistance, monitor / coordinate implementation of Georgia-EU Association Agreement and promote sectoral integration.

According to the amendments, a 'NATO Integration Department' will also be established in MFA, whose main task it will be to promote and coordinate Georgia's integration process with NATO.

The MFA will also set up a Department of Strategic Communications, which will be tasked with planning communications in accordance with the priorities of the foreign policy of the country. It will also inform the public on the government’s activities towards NATO and the EU integration.

According to the priorities of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, changes in the existing departments are also planned. Namely, the Employment Support Department will be created within the Department of International Organizations.

The establishment of new structures and changes to some existing departments became necessary after the Ministry for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration merged with the MFA in late 2017.

By Thea Morrison