Grigol Vashadze ( ka, გრიგოლ ვაშაძე, also transliterated as Gregory Vashadze) (born July 19, 1958) is a Georgian

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

and a former member of the

Cabinet of Georgia , border = , image = , image_size = 200px , alt = , image2 = , image_size2 = , alt2 = , caption = Coat of arms of Georgia (country), Coat of arms , date_established = , date_dissolved = , state = , country = , ...

in the capacity of the Minister for Culture, Heritage Preservation and Sport (2008) and

Minister for Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral re ...

of Georgia (2008–2012). He is currently a member of

Parliament of Georgia The Parliament of Georgia ( ka, საქართველოს პარლამენტი, tr) is the supreme national legislature of Georgia. It is a unicameral parliament, currently consisting of 150 members elected through fully pr ...

Early career

Born in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

, Vashadze graduated from

Moscow State Institute of International Relations Moscow State Institute of International Relations (MGIMO) (, also known as MGIMO University) is an higher education, institute of higher education located in Moscow, Russia. The institute is run by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Russia), Russian ...

in 1981 and worked for the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

, simultaneously doing his postgraduate training in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

at the Soviet Diplomatic Academy. At one time, he was a member of Soviet diplomatic team at the

START I START I (Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) was a bilateral treaty between the United States and the Soviet Union on the reduction and the limitation of strategic offensive arms. The treaty was signed on 31 July 1991 and entered into force on 5 De ...

talks with the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. He worked in Department of International Organizations and Department of Cosmos and Nuclear Weapons of Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union.

Career

From 1990 to 2008, Vashadze engaged in private business and lived mostly in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. He returned to Georgia in 2005. In February 2008, he was appointed Deputy to the Foreign Minister David Bakradze whom he succeeded as an acting minister in April 2008. He continued to work as Deputy Foreign Minister and became Minister for Foreign Affairs of Georgia in December 2008, succeeding Ekaterine Tkeshelashvili. In October 2012, he was succeeded by Maia Panjikidze. In July 2018 Vashadze was nominated as a presidential candidate for 2018 Georgian presidential election by United National Movement and 9 other opposition parties. In the first round of the election, his opponent Salome Zurabishvili won just one percentage point ahead of Vashadze. In his presidential campaign, Vashadze signalled his intention to use the presidency’s limited powers to send a vocal message of integration with

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

and the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are Geography of the European Union, located primarily in Europe. The u ...

. He also promised to reduce bureaucracy and took a strong stance against the

legalization of cannabis The legality of cannabis for medical and recreational use varies by country, in terms of its possession, distribution, and cultivation, and (in regards to medical) how it can be consumed and what medical conditions it can be used for. The ...

. On 24 March 2019 after

Mikheil Saakashvili Mikheil "Misha" Saakashvili (born 21 December 1967) is a Georgian and Ukrainian politician and jurist. He was the third president of Georgia for two consecutive terms from 25 January 2004 to 17 November 2013. He is the founder and former chair ...

stepped down as chairman of the United National Movement, he was nominated by the former chairman and won the following leadership election unopposed. He served as chairman until 15 December 2020, when he left the party.

Personal life

Vashadze has been married, since 1988, to the famous ballet dancer Nina Ananiashvili and has two children, Nodar and Elene. Beyond his native Georgian, Vashadze speaks

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

, English, Portuguese,

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

, and French. Vashadze held

dual citizenship Multiple citizenship (or multiple nationality) is a person's legal status in which a person is at the same time recognized by more than one sovereign state, country under its nationality law, nationality and citizenship law as a national or cit ...

of Georgia and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. During an interview with Russian newspaper

Kommersant (, , ''The Businessman'' or Commerce Man, often shortened to Ъ) is a nationally distributed daily newspaper published in Russia mostly devoted to politics and business. The TNS Media and NRS Russia certified July 2013 circulation of the daily ...

in December 2008, Vashadze stated that he was not going to refuse the Russian citizenship. His refusal was heavily criticized by Georgian opposition. Semyon Bagdasarov, a

deputy Deputy or depute may refer to: * Steward (office) * Khalifa, an Arabic title that can signify "deputy" * Deputy (legislator), a legislator in many countries and regions, including: ** A member of a Chamber of Deputies, for example in Italy, Spain, ...

of the Russian

State Duma The State Duma is the lower house of the Federal Assembly (Russia), Federal Assembly of Russia, with the upper house being the Federation Council (Russia), Federation Council. It was established by the Constitution of Russia, Constitution of t ...

, suggested to strip Vashadze of his Russian citizenship on account of his being "anti-Russian", but the parliament quickly dismissed the proposal as illegal. Following this incident, Vashadze renounced his Russian citizenship.Georgian FM Stripped of Russian Citizenship

Civil Georgia ''Civil Georgia'' ( ka, სივილ ჯორჯია) is a Tbilisi-based daily news website run by Georgian NGO UN Association of Georgia. Creation and funding Civil Georgia was founded in July 2001 and is trilingual in Georgian, Engli ...

. June 28, 2010. Accessed on February 10, 2012.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vashadze, Grigol 1958 births Diplomats from Tbilisi Former Russia citizens People who renounced Russian citizenship Politicians from Tbilisi Living people Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation alumni Moscow State Institute of International Relations alumni Soviet diplomats Culture ministers of Georgia Ministers of foreign affairs of Georgia Sports ministers of Georgia United National Movement (Georgia) politicians