Saakashvili Encourages Appointment of Ethnic Minorities on High Positions

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on December 17 that more representatives of the ethnic minority groups living in Georgia should be appointed to official positions.

Saakashvili said, while addressing the Georgian National Security Council, that ?integration of the ethnic minorities will be the government?s priority.?

As a result of the recent reshuffle in the government Zinaida Bestaeva, an ethnic Ossetian, has been appointed as the State Minister for Civil Integration Issues. Bestaeva was born in Tskhinvali, the capital of breakaway South Ossetia and has spent the last ten years living in North Ossetia.
 
?The fact that Zinaida Bestaeva has become the State Minister is a clear message that each citizen, regardless of nationality, can be appointed to high-level official position in Georgia,? Mikheil Saakashvili said.