Security Policy in Georgia

A conference on the institutional and legal frames of security was held under the guidance of the Georgian-Atlantic Council, at Tbilisi Marriott Hotel on November 19. A preliminary report on the architecture of national security was also presented in the frames of the project called Review of Georgian Security Sector. The main supporters of the project were the American Council in Georgia and USAID.

The conference was opened by Richard Norland, the Ambassador of the US to Georgia. Norland congratulated Georgia on the election of the new President, briefed the audience about the security problems in Georgia and gave a word to Alexandra Hall Hall, Ambassador of the UK and Northern Ireland to Georgia.

The conference consisted of two sessions. The main topic of the first session concerned the issue of planning and making a decision on the mentioned project according to the new constitutional changes. The principal aim of this was the enhancement of Georgian security mechanisms.

According to Vasil Sikharulidze, the chairman of the Georgian Atlantic Council, Georgia faces lots of challenges and threats from its northern neighbor - Russia. The mentioned problems need to be solved with the help of security policy. All the possible ways of solving these problems were discussed during the conference.

Unfortunately, not all of the guests had the opportunity to attend the conference. Lots of them are members of parliament and government, and during the conference, they were in Kutaisi.

The moderator of the first session was Irakli Menagharishvili. The other reporters were Levan Alapishvili, representative of the Atlantic Council of Georgia, Giorgi Muchaidze, Executive Director of the Atlantic Council of Georgia and Nodar Kharshiladze.

Alapishvili gave a speech on the changes in the Security Council which were caused by the new constitutional changes. Muchaidze talked about the legal frames and functions of the Georgian Security Council. Nodar Kharshiladze's speech was about the hierarchy of the strategic documents.

The main topic of the second session was on the problem of legal and institutional aspects of the process of planning national security.

The reporters were former minister of culture Nikoloz Rurua, the former deputy of the Chairman of the Defense and Security Committee, Davit Darchiashvili - the present deputy of the chairman of the Defense and Security Committee, the representatives of the Atlantic Council of Georgia - Teona Akubardia and Irakli Mtchedlishvili, and Lasha Darsalia, the director of the analytical department of the Georgian National Security Council.

Rurua spoke about the mechanisms of coordination of the security policy in various countries. As an example, he named Poland, Lithuania and Finland, the three radically different (in this issue) countries. According to his speech, Georgian security policy will be “a mix of them,” which will give us a chance for improvement and to perfect of our policy.

Mtchedlishvili's speech touched on civil engagement into the security policy. Teona Akubardia gave recommendations about institutional organization and coordination between the ministries. Davit Darchiashvili and Lasha Darsalia spoke about the practical and legal aspects of the national security planning process.