On 4 December 2014 the NATO Defense College (NDC) was honoured to receive the visit of H.E. Aleksi Petriashvili, State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration. He was accompanied by the Georgian Ambassador to Italy, H.E Karlo Sikharulidze, together with a joint delegation from the Ministry and from the Georgian Embassy.
To mark this special occasion, NDC Commandant LtGen Arne Bård Dalhaug (NOR A) warmly welcomed the delegation during a brief office call. After this, the guests participated in a roundtable with the Commandant and senior NDC staff, which was fruitful in providing important information about the NDC, its mission, its structure, and its education, outreach and research activities.
Mr Petriashvili obtained his university degree in Economic and Social Geography from Tbilisi State University. He has close links with the NDC, being an Ancien of Senior Course 96 (February-July 2000).
His professional experience began in 1994, serving on the Staff of the Head of State – first as a Senior Specialist in the Foreign Relations Division of the State Logistic Service, and afterwards as State Advisor in the Foreign Policy Analysis Service at the State Chancellery. He then held posts at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Head of the Bilateral Relations Division in the Politico-Military Department, and as Deputy Director of the Politico-Military Department. Subsequent diplomatic postings include: Senior Counsellor, Embassy of Georgia to Austria and Permanent Mission of Georgia to the OSCE and International Organizations in Vienna, from 2001 to 2002; Senior Counsellor, Embassy of Georgia to the United States of America, Mexico and Canada, from 2002 to 2004; and Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Georgia to Turkmenistan and the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, from 2004 to 2009. In 2012 he was elected to the Georgian Parliament and, since October of the same year, he has been the State Minister of Georgia on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration.
He has also served as Political Secretary in the Free Democrats Party (2009-2012) and, in 2012, he became a member of the Political Board of the Georgian Dream coalition.
NDC Public Affairs Office
(Prepared by Ms Giulia A. Bruni Roccia, ITA C)
NATO Defense College 
