Georgian ministers busy

Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania, acompanied by the Deputy Chief of the Joint Staff of GAF Colonel Vladimer Chachibaia is paying an official visit to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The Defence Ministry web-page reports, "on the first day of the official visit, the Defence Minister of Georgia held meetings with Sir Malcolm Rifkind, Chairman of Intelligence and Security Committee, House of Commons, UK Parliament and James Arbuthnot, MP, Chairman of the Select Defence Committee. At the meeting the sides discussed the NATO-Georgia relationship and issues of bilateral cooperation between Georgia and the UK in the defence sphere." The minister discussed the current political situation in Georgia, as well as the planned transformation of the armed forces and ongoing defence reforms.

Within the framework of the visit Colonel Vladimer Chachibaia met with General Sir David Richards, Chief of Defence Staff. The sides duscussed the issues of defence cooperation between Georgia and Great Britain. According to the Defence Ministry “The sides also touched upon the possibility of Georgian and British joint military participation in the post-ISAF period.”

Alasania also held a meeting with Andrew Murrison, the Minister for International Security Strategy, David Clarke, Deputy Head SSDAT, Security and Justice Group and Steve McCarthy, Director of International Security Policy. After the meeting, the Defence Minister commented that the British side finds the transformation of the Georgian armed forces to be very interesting.

Minister of Internal Affairs Irakli Gharibashvili while the visit to the USA met with Philip Gordon, US Assistant Secretary of the State Department and discussed the recent political situation in Georgia, changes within the Ministry of Internal Affairs as well as scheduled reforms. The minister also visited the Drug Enforcement Agency and discussed issues of cooperation with the director of the agency. Within the framework of the visit, a meeting with the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation is also planned. Gharibashvili resumes his visit on February 1, 2013

Nodar Khaduri, Financial Minister is also in the U.S. to meet with representatives of the government agencies and international financial organizations, including the Department of Treasury, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), the World Bank and IMF.

On the 28th and 29th of January 2013, the Georgian Foreign Minister, Maia Panjikidze, paid an official visit to the Republic of Poland and held meetings with the Polish Secretary of State and Chief of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland, Jacek Michalowski; with the Marshal of the Senate (the Polish parliament's upper chamber), Bogdan Borusewicz; with the Deputy Marshal of the Sejm (the Polish parliament's lower chamber), Cezary Grabarczyk; and with the Polish Foreign Minister, Radoslaw Sikorski.