Tbilisi - New Georgian Defense Minister Mindia Janelidze says he understands his new responsibilities and the main principles which will guide his activity.
“First of all, I would like to say that the course of the Georgian Armed Forces’ development will be unaltered and remain focused on Euro-Atlantic integration,” Janelidze said at a press briefing on Wednesday after Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili had introduced him as the new Defense Minister.
The Euro-Atlantic integration is the choice of the Georgian people and government, the minister said. “We will do our best for greater rapprochement with NATO and active cooperation with our strategic partners – the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany and other friends of Georgia,” Janelidze said.
“The second principle of my work is respect for every soldier and officer, so that they can fully use their potential and fulfill their duty to the fatherland,” the minister said, adding that the policy of the Armed Forces’ de-politicization would be carried on. “We think that the army should be free from the political context,” Janelidze said.
Before his appointment, Janelidze had been the head of the State Security and Crisis Management Council. He is a career jurist, a graduate of the Counterintelligence Department of the Security Institute and a colonel. Previously, he had been the head of the Georgian Interior Ministry’s counterintelligence department.
