Foreign Minister Zalkaliani Appointed Ambassador to U.S.
Georgia’s Deputy Prime Minister / Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has resigned to become Ambassador to the United States.
Ilia Darchiashvili, the Head of Government Administration and former Ambassador to Poland, is set to replace Zalkaliani as the top diplomat.
Announcing the decision this morning, PM Irakli Garibashvili said the appointment of FM Zalkaliani, who garners 30-years long experience in diplomatic service, as the Ambassador to the U.S. highlights the importance Georgia attaches to relations with Washington.
Hailing the U.S. as Georgia’s most important strategic partner, PM Garibashvili said “our task, our desire is to take the relations between the two countries to [higher] level and I believe Dato [David Zalkaliani] will be able to do it successfully.”
On his part, Zalkaliani stated that “representing Georgia in our main strategic partner country, the United States, is a huge responsibility.”
He pledged to “work with even greater responsibility” to bring Georgia-U.S. relations to a higher level.
On his part, newly appointed Foreign Minister Darchiashvili said the Foreign Ministry and Georgian diplomats will “continue to defend the best interests of the country abroad with an usual dedication.”
Darchiashvili, 41, holds economics and business administration degrees from Tbilisi State University and Grenoble Ecole de Management, France, respectively.
At the onset of his career, from 2003 to 2012, he held positions in Bank Republic/Société Générale in Georgia, from where he moved to the Georgian Embassy in Poland in 2012-2014.
In 2014, during the first premiership of Irakli Garibashvili, Darchiashvili has become Deputy Director of the Municipal Development Fund, and in 2015 he was promoted as Director.
Soon in 2015, also under PM Garibashvili, he has become the First Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Infrastructure.
In 2016-2017, he was an ambassador-at-large at the Foreign Ministry.
In 2017-2021, Darchiashvili served as Georgian Ambassador to Poland, from where in March 2021 he was transferred as the Government Administration Head shortly after Irakli Garibashvili returned as Prime Minister.
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
