From 4-7 February, the Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs David Zalkaliani visited the United States to participate in the annual Ministerial to Advance Religious Freedom at the invitation of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. 

Before leaving for Washington, Zalkaliani stated that the meetings in the US will be an opportunity for “sincere communication with our strategic partner” on various issues, adding that “the meetings and the actions of the Georgian government will further strengthen the US-Georgia strategic partnership.”

At the Ministerial, Zalkaliani spoke on the difficult human rights situation in the separatist regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia). He briefed Pompeo on the occupying regime’s concrete actions and decisions that infringe fundamental human rights, including confessional rights. Zalkaliani stressed the fact that the right to officiate religious service is also denied to ethnic Georgians. Against such a background, the Minister stressed the necessity for the international organizations to have access to the occupied territories. 

Before the Ministerial, Zalkaliani met with the US Acting Assistant Secretary of State  of European and Eurasian Affairs Philip Reeker to discuss the issues of strategic partnership. “The Georgia-US cooperation has been… highly assessed in all fields, as well as the activities of the group created per the Strategic Partnership Charter,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry reported. 

Another of Zalkaliani’s meetings was with the US congressman who sent a letter of concern to the Georgian government in January  about “a continuous negative trend in democratic and free market economic indicators“ in the country (Caucasus Watch reported). He met with Jim Risch, a chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and Jeanne Shaheen, a ranking member of the Subcommittee on Europe and Regional Security Cooperation, stating that the senators “have very obviously seen the political will of the Georgian government to further strengthen democratic institutions in the country.”

“We support Georgia and respect the aspirations of the Georgian people to the EU and NATO, their attitude to the US and the Euro-Atlantic partnership. We are sure the US support to Georgia will continue,” the Georgian Foreign Ministry cited the senators as saying. 

Zalkaliani said that the senators and the US consider Georgia a ‘high-standard democracy in the region’ and the recent letters coming from the country were of high expectations. “I had an opportunity to inform them in detail about all the issues they mentioned in their letter, including the election issues and the ongoing talks between the ruling party and the opposition, as well as about the recommendations we receive from our  partners regarding the election topic. I told them that Georgia remains committed to democratic values and its international obligations,” he said. 

Parallel to Zalkaliani’s visit, another Georgian official is conducting a visit to the US. The Chairman of the Parliament of Georgia, Archil Talakvadze will visit the United States with the Parliamentary Delegation on 5-10 February to participate in an annual event called National Prayer Breakfast, the two day event which includes a day full of meetings and forums organized by the US President Donald Trump. Talakvadze also announced that he will hold meetings with Philip Reeker and the USAID Assistant Administrator Brock Bierman.