Foreign Minister Invited to NATO Summit in Washington

28/06/2024 - 13:23

Source: Information Center on NATO and EU

The invitation to attend the July 9-11 NATO summit in Washington was sent to Georgian Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili, the Georgian bureau of Voice of America reported, citing State Department spokesman Mathew Miller. The State Department allegedly has not received an official response to the invitation from Tbilisi. Asked about this, Miller urged VoA to contact the government on Georgia, adding that the State Department calls on the GD government to quickly take steps to return Georgia to the Euro-Atlantic path, according to the will of its people and the country’s constitution.

Earlier in the week, it became known that the U.S. was planning to invite Georgia to the NATO Summit in Washington, when Assistant Secretary of State James O’Brien made a statement to the foreign media.

Alexander Vinnikov, head of the NATO liaison office in Tbilisi, told Formula TV that no specific meeting focused on Georgia was planned during the summit. He said that the US Secretary of State has invited his colleagues from partner countries, including Georgia, to participate in working sessions. Vinnikov noted the importance of Georgia’s participation in the summit at the level of a foreign minister, as it did in Vilnius a year ago, and stressed that Georgia “has remained a valuable partner for many years”.

The Georgian Ministry reacted to the news later on June 28, confirming the participation of the Georgia delegation headed by the Foreign Minister in the Summit: “The Minister will take part in the meeting of foreign ministers in the format of partner countries scheduled for July 10.” The Ministry said Ilia Darchiashvili “will also take part in other events planned within the framework of the Summit and will hold bilateral meetings.” The MFA noted that “according to the programme of the Summit the participation of the partner countries is provided at the level of foreign ministers, therefore the Foreign Minister of Georgia has been invited to participate in the summit in Washington.”

Georgia was represented at the Foreign Minister level at the Vilnius Summit, in contrast to previous NATO Summits where Georgia was represented by the Head of State.

This news was updated at 2:15 to include the comment by the Foreign Ministry.

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