Tamar Taliashvili appointed as Georgia's next Ambassador to US

Georgia has appointed Tamar Taliashvili as its next ambassador to the United States, ending a six-month diplomatic vacancy.

The appointment, confirmed by a government decree issued on Monday by Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze, is scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, pending formal procedures.

Taliashvili, a senior member of the ruling Georgian Dream party, most recently served as Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the Council of Europe from October 2022 until her official recall on June 9. She had previously held a seat in the Georgian parliament and served two terms in the Tbilisi City Assembly, where she chaired the Education and Culture Commission.

Her appointment to the key diplomatic post comes at a critical juncture in Georgia - US relations. In late 2024, Washington suspended its strategic partnership with Tbilisi, citing concerns over democratic backsliding and the violent suppression of pro-European demonstrations. 

Before entering politics, Taliashvili worked in international development and legal advisory roles, including positions with the USAID fiscal reform project and Germany’s GIZ foundation. In 2011, she was nominated for the US Secretary of State’s Women in Public Service initiative.

The diplomatic process now requires formal approval from both the host country, the United States, and Georgia’s president, Mikheil Kavelashvili, who was elected as the country’s sixth president earlier this year as a candidate of the Georgian Dream party. Under Georgia’s constitution, the president appoints ambassadors upon the government’s nomination, but only after the receiving state has granted its agrément.

Taliashvili will succeed Davit Zalkaliani, a former foreign minister, who resigned from the Washington post in November 2024.

His departure followed the breakdown in bilateral relations and the imposition of US sanctions on more than 100 Georgian officials and individuals associated with the ruling party.