Georgian Foreign Minister Grigol Vashadze met U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the NATO headquarters in Brussels on April 18.
The defense and foreign ministers of NATO member states are gathered in Brussels for two days of talks to prepare the forthcoming NATO Summit in Chicago in May. Meeting of the NATO foreign ministers with counterparts from non-NATO ISAF contributing nations will be held on April 19.
“We’ve discussed several important issues; first and foremost of course we’ve discussed preparations for the Chicago summit,” Vashadze said and added: “We have full a concurrence in opinions.”
He also said that economic, political and democratic developments in Georgia were also discussed.
On April 19 NATO foreign ministers will be joined by Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for a session of the NATO-Russia Council (NRC).
The Georgian Foreign Minister said, that the NATO would “definitely” reiterate “fundamental differences” existing between the Alliance and Russia over Georgia.
On April 18 Foreign Minister Vashadze also met in the NATO HQ with counterparts from Albania, Bulgaria, Poland and the Czech Republic, according to the Georgian Foreign Ministry.
After meeting with President Saakashvili in Brussels on April 3, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, that the Alliance’s “special partnership” with Georgia would be reflected at the upcoming NATO summit in Chicago in three ways.
“Firstly, reflect that Georgia is one of the major contributors to our operation in Afghanistan. Secondly, reflect that Georgia in general is a major contributor to the trans-Atlantic cooperation within the special NATO-Georgia Commission and thirdly that Georgia is also considered an aspirant country, a country that aspires to become a future member of NATO,” Rasmussen said.