2018-04-30
Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen!
Greetings, Mister President!
Mister Chairman of the Parliament!
I welcome the members of the Cabinet,
Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Wess Mitchell,
Assistant NATO Secretary General Tacan Ildem!
I welcome the participants of this forum, representatives of the diplomatic corps, and friends of Georgia!
It is very gratifying to be hosting today the concluding event of the NATO Days, the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum which is being held for the third time in Tbilisi, emerging in a way as an important tradition.
Allow me to inform you that we have declared 2018 Year of Universal Engagement and Dialogue. Our goal is to engage every citizen as an active participant of the country's development, of both foreign and domestic processes.
The concept of this year's forum is 360-Degree Communication, which perfectly matches the vision of both the Government of Georgia and NATO, and involves providing the population with correct fact-based information about why Euro-Atlantic integration is so important to our country and our future.
As you know, NATO membership is the top priority of our country's foreign and security policy which reflects the unwavering will of Georgia's citizens. Its importance is enormous, which is why it is included in the new version of the Constitution of Georgia.
I would like to single out our unprecedentedly dynamic and active relations with the Alliance in terms of both practical cooperation and political dialogue in the past few years, especially last year.
We have proved to be a worthy and reliable partner to the Alliance.
Georgia enjoys various formats of cooperation with the Alliance which we are using very actively. The Alliance's members recognize that Georgia has practically all tools for NATO membership, and we are using these tools effectively.
Accordingly, NATO unequivocally recognizes Georgia's progress in democratic reforms, modernization of its armed forces and defense institutions, and its contribution to the strengthening of international security.
NATO appreciates Georgia as one of its most interoperable and reliable partners.
Today, we are celebrating the 27th anniversary of the first conscription in the Georgian Armed Forces since the restoration of Georgia's independence. Over these years, Georgia has been through much. Thousands of soldiers have paid the ultimate price fighting for Georgia's independence, fighting against Russian occupation, and as part of international peacemaking operations. On one hand, we of course honor the memory of Georgia's heroes on this day. On the other hand, we take great pride in the tradition established 27 years ago, and the tradition of fighting side by side forged along our cooperation with NATO, especially under the Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan carried out jointly with NATO's troops.
Given the unprecedentedly active and dynamic NATO-Georgia cooperation in the past years, we expect that the partners at the Brussels Summit in July will duly assess and reflect Georgia's progress in terms of both democratic development and NATO integration, in the context of open door policy, and that decisions will be made further to cement NATO-Georgia practical cooperation.
Last night, we had a long conversation with the US Assistant Secretary of State, Mr. Wess Mitchell, and I am very optimistic after hearing his clearly articulated opinions on both Georgia's territorial integrity and Georgia's accession to NATO. I would like to thank you. Your presence here today, as well as the presence of NATO's Assistant Secretary General, is a clear confirmation of the support of the US Administration for Georgia's foreign trajectory, on one hand, and of NATO's support and recognition of Georgia's progress and Euro-Atlantic course, all of which is vitally important to Georgia.
It is becoming clearer by the minute that the closer we approach NATO, the more intense anti-Western propaganda grows in the country. This is why right and timely action is required of the Alliance and us.
We are doing our best to assess and counter such threats, and we are actively cooperating with our partners on dealing with these threats. Structural changes and the empowerment of relevant functional links has already been implemented in state institutions working in this direction, in doing which response to such threats has become better coordinated. For several months now, the Georgian Center for Security and Development, with financial support from the US Embassy, has been retraining strategic communications specialists from relevant state institutions in line with the latest standards, which will, in the nearest future, enhance the effectiveness of action countering anti-Western propaganda.
I am happy that this forum once again enables us to discuss new challenges, methods, and strategies, and to share with one another the best practices of public diplomacy, and to work together against such challenges.
In conclusion, I would like to thank the organizers of this much-needed forum: the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and the Information Center on NATO and the EU, the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, NATO's Public Diplomacy Division and the Bulgarian Embassy in Georgia, also visiting guests for coming to Georgia. Please accept my sincere wishes for successful and productive cooperation over the next two days.
Thank you for supporting Georgia in this crucially important cause.