Meeting with Defense Minister

On December 19, Juansher Burchuladze, the Georgian Minister of Defense, hosted Javier Colomina, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of NATO in the Caucasus and Central Asia, in the direction of political relations and security policy.

The defense minister introduced Javier Colomina to the reforms implemented in the defense field and achieved progress in strengthening Georgia's defense capability and increasing compatibility with NATO. The meeting noted the critical importance of the successful implementation of the enhanced NATO-Georgia Substantial Package (SNGP) and tailored support from the Alliance to Georgia's needs in light of the current security challenges.

Speaking with the Minister of Defense, Colomina highly appreciated the successful activities of the Ministry of Defense and the inter-agency government team during the year and talked about plans. Javier Colomina has once again confirmed his unwavering support for Georgia's accession to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Meeting with Prime Minister

On the same day, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili met with Javier Colomina, the Press Office of the Georgian government reported.

In the meeting at the Government Administration, the key directions of the NATO-Georgia cooperation agenda were discussed, and Georgia's progress toward Euro-Atlantic integration was summarized.

The parties discussed Georgia's role as the Alliance's unwavering and reliable partner and its considerable contribution to ensuring both global and Black Sea Region security. The Head of Government noted that Georgia has always been one of the most reliable and effective partners of the Alliance.

Colomina comments on EU candidacy and partnership with China and Russia

At a briefing held in Tbilisi, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of NATO in the Caucasus and Central Asia stated that it is a historic moment for Georgia, the year 2024 will be as critically important as the decision to grant candidate status.

"During the meetings I had, I congratulated the Georgian people and Georgian officials on the decision to grant candidate status by the European Union. I think this is very good news, a historical moment for Georgia, but it is also good news for the international community. I think this opens up a moment that we should continue to take advantage of in 2024. 2024 will be as critically important as this decision was. We expect Georgia to complete nine steps, reforms that must be carried out within the framework of these nine steps, to meet the requirements that NATO also has," he added.

Moreover, he emphasized, "We hope to see real, lively democratic practice in the 2024 elections."

"Democracy is fundamental for us; for the Alliance, it has principle value. And we want to see democracy work as it should. So elections are a big part of democracies, they have to be conducted in a fair, competitive way. This [election topic] was part of the conversations with the opposition, but I think that as much as the elections are important, so is the role of the opposition and the government. Democracy functions by all of us, all citizens, working together. So, from my point of view, it is the joint responsibility of the government and the opposition. I expect a very important year for Georgians in 2024 because of the reforms that I mentioned, but also because 2024 will end with elections, and we hope we will see a real, lively democratic practice," Colomina noted.

Furthermore, Javier Colomina said that a partnership with China and receiving investments from it is possible, but Russia is a different story.

According to him, there should be a balanced foreign policy with China. The NATO Special Representative said that he has had discussions with Georgian officials on issues related to China and that they should be aware of the risks of dependence, especially when it comes to critical infrastructure. "We often talked about this during my visits to Tbilisi. We live in a world of geostrategic competition, this is clear. We are not comparing the situations of Russia and China, but we have concerns about the security challenges that China presents. In this regard, we believe that even our partners and our allies can have more developed relations with China because China can be a partner to some extent and can be a global actor with which we can engage. NATO is engaged with China, but at the same time, you have to understand the fact that it [China] presents these security challenges, especially when it comes to critical infrastructure and dependencies that some [Chinese] investments can create," he added.

"This does not mean that you cannot partner with China or receive investment from China. Russia is a completely different story. It is, as you know, a threat to us, an invader, and our view of Russia will not change as long as the war continues. This was part of the conversations I had with Georgian officials. They need to be aware of the risks of creating dependencies, especially in critical infrastructure. At the same time, we understand the need for investments in sectors that do not create such dependencies. So, overall, there should be a balanced foreign policy," Colomina said.