The  Munich Security Conference (MSC) was held between 14 and 16 February. The conference gathered hundreds of senior leaders and thinkers from politics, international organizations, business and civil society members in order to discuss preeminent crises and future security challenges around the world. 

The topic of this year's MSC was “Westlessness”, which refers to a divided and, in some parts, increasingly illiberal West that seems to be retreating from the global stage. The focal point of this year's MSC discussions was the role of the Western alliance, liberal values and multilateralism in the current geopolitical landscape. 

The Georgian delegation at this year's MSC was led by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia and consisted of Justice Minister Tea Tsulukiani, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and Defense Minister Irakli Garibashvili. The most important meeting for Georgia at the MSC was held between Gakharia and the US Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, where a detailed discussion of the bilateral cooperation in the field of security and joint projects in the field of defense took place. 

“In November 2019, the programs we are implementing in cooperation with the US were upgraded. We also discussed Georgia's contribution to Afghanistan and international security. It was a key meeting in order to discuss cooperation plans in the coming years in terms of security and defense,” Gakharia noted.

Gakharia thanked the US delegation for their financial support and stated that the Government is fully prepared to meet the NATO standards of supplementing 2% of the GDP to the defense sector. Additionally, he stated that 20% of the defense budget will be allocated to modernize military infrastructure. The sides also conferred on the future relations between the countries and more precisely about Georgia’s long-term military development, between the years 2020-2030.   

He also mentioned the Black Sea security and partnership with NATO that is meant to safeguard the region. They also spoke about the problems that can arise amid a partnership with the US and the ways the administration can resist these types of hybrid warfare.

The Prime Minister also spoke about his meeting with ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda which is held annually at the Munich Security Conference. The PM said he reiterated at the meeting that it was of utmost importance for the Georgian side to investigate the facts of ethnic cleansing of Georgians during the 2008 war and catastrophic humanitarian violations against civilians as quickly as possible.

Other notable figures at the MSC also highlighted Georgia’s important role in the European security architecture. In his opening remarks, Wolfgang Ischinger, the Chairman of the Munich Security Conference, emphasized Georgia’s important role and said that the European security architecture is unimaginable without the security of Georgia and Ukraine. 

“More than 30 years since the fall of the wall, countries that don’t respect sovereignty still threaten us. Some nations still desire empire. Let’s talk about territorial integrity, or rather, those nations that have contempt for it. Russia has seized Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine and Georgia,“ said the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Zalkaliani, on his behalf, held meetings with his counterparts from Poland, Liechtenstein, Slovenia, Spain, Czech Republic and Croatia, where the deepening bilateral ties was the major topic.  

He also issued a joint statement with his Ukrainian (Vadym Prystaiko) and Moldovan (Aureliu Ciocoi) counterparts towards the EU Commission, calling for relevant financial support. “The Foreign Ministers of the three Associated Partners called on the EU to take into account within its strategic budgetary planning for the next 7 years the scale and ambitions of the reforms, which are being implemented and planned by Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova in the process of their European integration. In this regard, the Ministers stressed the importance to ensure in the EU Multiannual Financial Framework increased resources for the needs of the Eastern Partnership states that would correspond to their European commitments and priorities of relations with the EU,” read the statement.  

Defense Minister Garibashvili met with his US, Canadian, Montenegrin, Latvian, Swiss and Greek counterparts.