Vershbow denies reports on his appointment as the new US ambassador to Georgia
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Wednesday, July 24
Alexander Vershbow, former Deputy Secretary-General of NATO has denied the information released in the Georgian media that he will be appointed as the US Ambassador to Georgia.
“I’m proud to be a friend of Georgia and supporter of its NATO aspirations, but I have not been chosen to be US Ambassador,” Vershbow tweeted.
From October 2005 to October 2008, Vershbow served as the US ambassador to South Korea.
Before taking the post, he was the US ambassador to Russia and NATO.
In March 2009, he was appointed as US Assistant Secretary Defence for International Security Affairs.
After almost three years with the US Department of Defense, in February 2012, Vershbow moved back to Brussels where he took the position of Deputy Secretary-General of NATO, becoming the first American to hold the position.
The post of the US ambassador to Georgia became vacant after an early retirement of former US Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly in February 2018 and an end of his 33-year diplomatic career.
The US government sent Ross Wilson in early November 2018 to Georgia to fulfill the functions of an ambassador until the official appointment of the new US ambassador to Georgia.
“Wilson, who has served as American Charge d’Affaires in Tbilisi since early November, will be departing Georgia and returning to private life upon completion of his temporary assignment in mid-May,” the US Embassy to Georgia has stated.
“He was honored to have the opportunity to represent the United States in Georgia and to develop our bilateral relationship further. After his departure, Elizabeth Rood will resume her role as Charge d’Affaires with the full confidence of Washington,” the statement reads.
The Foreign Policy media reported in December 2018 that the Georgian government rebuffed US Foreign Service officer Bridget Brink to become a new ambassador to Georgia because of the alleged predisposition toward former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
“Current and former officials in Washington told Foreign Policy that Georgia has indicated it will not sign a diplomatic agreement—known in diplomacy as an agreement—accepting the nomination of Bridget Brink, a career foreign service officer with extensive experience in Europe and two past tours in Georgia, because of her alleged predisposition toward former Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili,” Foreign Policy reported then.
The media said that the US State Department declined to comment, referring the matter to the White House, which has not yet formally announced an ambassador nomination to Georgia.
The media cited a senior administration official as saying that “the Trump administration puts forward strong, qualified candidates for ambassadorial positions and is making every effort to fill these positions as quickly as possible, including in Georgia. We do not comment on the status of internal processes.”
The Georgian Foreign Ministry said that the information was far from reality and that such allegations voiced by the media might have played a negative role in the relations of Georgia and its strategic partner United States.
