Azernews.Az

By Sabina Idayatova

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton discussed Georgia's progress towards integration into NATO in a telephone conversation on Saturday, according to the Saakashvili administration.

"Saakashvili and Clinton also discussed the ministerial meeting of NATO, scheduled to be held in December," said the official Facebook page of the Georgian President.

The latest progress of Georgia, democratically held elections to the Georgian parliament and the peaceful transfer of power will top the agenda of the ministerial.

Clinton also talked over the phone with new Georgian Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze and extended congratulations on her appointment to the post.

During the talks, the sides discussed Georgian-US relations, in particular, the Charter on Strategic Cooperation, and the contribution of Georgian soldiers to the mission of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan (ISAF), Georgia Online reported.

Clinton reaffirmed unwavering US support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and invited Panjikidze to visit the U.S. in late November.

Richard Norland, the US Ambassador to Georgia, told journalists on Monday that Georgia gives bipartisan support to integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions.

"Both the president and the prime minister seek to ensure Georgia`s membership in Euro-Atlantic institutions. The decision remains unchanged. The ultimate goal is joining NATO," Norland added.

The U.S. State Department said recently in a report after analyzing Georgian-American relations following the victory of opposition coalition Georgian Dream at the October 1 parliamentary elections that the United States will continue to assist Georgia during the transition period, on the basis of guidelines of the Charter on Strategic Cooperation.

One of the major projects undertaken by the United States in Georgia is Millennium Challenge program, which aims to provide aid to countries in transition.

The key goal of Millennium Challenge Georgia Program is to reduce poverty through economic growth. This program is administered by the Millennium Challenge Corporation, which was developed by the US government to provide aid to countries in transition.

In 2004, Georgia was nominated among 16 countries viewed as potential recipients of the funding. Each of these countries met 16 criteria, three of which were major ones: ruling justly, investing in people and economic freedom. The two priorities outlined for the Georgian government are infrastructure rehabilitation and enterprise development.