President of Georgia awards US European Command General
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, March 24
President Giorgi Margvelashvili awarded the European Command General of the US Armed Forces, Philip Mark Breedlove, with the Golden Fleece Order for his contribution to Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration and deepening of bilateral relation in the defence field between the US and Georgia.
At the award ceremony, the President underlined that General Breedlove always supported Georgia’s territorial integrity.
“Today we are hosting a guest who has openly supported Georgia’s territorial integrity many times. The role of General Breedlove has been decisive in Georgia’s military cooperation with NATO,” stated Margvelashvili.
The award ceremony was followed by a working dinner.
Philip Mark Breedlove is a four-star General in the United States Air Force who serves as the Commander, U.S. European Command, as well as the 17th Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR) of NATO Allied Command Operations.
The General also met with the Defence Minister of Georgia, Tina Khidasheli, on March 23.
Khidasheli mentioned that the visit of the General, whose authority expires soon, is of great importance for Georgia.
“This man has been strengthening the independence of Georgia for 25 years. We discussed security issues and shared our positions in order to find the ways out of this complicated situation in the world,” stated the Defence Minister.
General Breedlove said that he is glad to be in Georgia and condemned the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels.
Khidasheli and the General unilaterally condemned terrorism and expressed their solidarity with the families of the deceased.
“With our partners we will work to defeat terrorism and terrorists and defend our way of life,” stated Breedlove after his meeting with Khidasheli.
