Friday, June 21 2013

Tbilisi. Georgian Defence Minister, Irakli Alasania, will
hold a series of meetings in the USA as part of his working visit, that will
begin on August 19 - Georgian Ministry of Defence (MoD) reported on June 20.

During the visit the sides will touch upon
the intensification of the U.S.-Georgia defence cooperation.  Particular focus will be made on the issue of
raising Georgia's defence capacity, as well as on the ISAF international
peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan.

"My official visit to Washington has
been planned. I have been invited by my colleague. It is important, since there
were not any visits of that kind for the past four years. We met each other in
Brussels, at the ISAF Ministerial, where we agreed to intensify our bilateral
defence relations. Those relations concern not only our joint mission in
Afghanistan, but also particular intensification of the U.S.-Georgia defence
cooperation, including the assistance to our army, in order to make it stronger
and be able to defend our sovereignty," Alasania told journalists on
Thursday, June 20.

The duration of the Georgian Defence
Minister's visit to the USA has not been specified.