Mikheil Janelidze (; born 29 March 1981) is a Georgian politician, who is a chairman of the Center for European Governance & Economy. He previously served as Vice Prime Minister (2017–2018), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015–2018), First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (2015) and Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia (2011-2015).
Early life and education Mikheil Janelidze was born on 29 March 1981 in Kutaisi, Georgia. His father, Kirile Janelidze, was a lawyer and devoted his whole career to the Prosecutors Office of Georgia. Kirile Janelidze held positions of Chief Prosecutor of the Imereti Region and Deputy Chief Prosecutor of Tbilisi. Mikheil’s mother, Nineli Janelidze (maiden name: Shengelia), a medical doctor, served as a director of neonatology department at the maternity hospital in Kutaisi.
Mikheil attended St. Nino Gymnasium in Kutaisi in 1987-1996 and Hochwald Gymnasium in Wadern, Germany as an exchange student in 1996–1997. While in Germany, he lived in the family of Friedrich Ebert, a teacher, writer, humanitarian and promoter of German-Georgian friendship.
Mikheil moved to Tbilisi in 1997 to pursue his graduate studies. In 2002, he graduated with honors from the faculty of International Law and International Relations of the Tbilisi State University and attained a bachelor's degree with a specialization in international relations. In 2003, Mikheil was nominated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia as a candidate for the post-graduate studies at the Diplomatic Academy of the Russian Federation. He moved to Moscow, Russia to pursue his post-graduate studies at the faculty of International Law. At the academy he did a research on the topic of dispute settlement system of the World Trade Organization.
In Spring of 2006, Janelidze returned to Georgia and continued his career in the private sector. He held several high managerial positions and worked mostly in the field of business development. In 2008, Mikheil commenced the Dual MBA program of Grenoble Ecole de Management, France and Caucasus School of Business, Georgia. He graduated from the program with distinction with a specialization in Global Management. In his master thesis, he developed a strategic framework for assessment of an investment environment of a country. Janelidze completed an Executive Program of MIT Sloan School of Management on Artificial Intelligence in 2018.
Career in Trade and Economic Field
Mikheil Janelidze took the position of a Head of Foreign Trade and International Economic Relations Department of the Ministry of Economic Development of Georgia in 2009. During this period, he led the work of the ministry on the first trade policy review of Georgia under the WTO. He chaired working groups of the different intergovernmental economic commissions. Mikheil was on the government's task-force responsible for the preparation of Georgia for the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement with the European Union. At the same time, Mikheil undertook the reform of the department, including introduction of the technological innovation for raising the effectiveness of the unit. In 2011, Janelidze was awarded with the Order of Honor for his contributions to the foreign trade policy development of Georgia.
In 2011, Janelidze was promoted to the position of a Deputy Minister of Economy and Sustainable Development of Georgia and was appointed as a Chief Trade Negotiator of Georgia. He headed Georgian delegation at the 8th Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization. Janelidze successfully concluded negotiations with the European Union on the DCFTA and initialled the agreement at the Eastern Partnership Summit (EaP) in Vilnius on 28 November 2013.
In 2013–2015, Mikheil led the trade policy reforms of Georgia associated with the DCFTA. In this period, Georgia launched free trade negotiations with European Free Trade Association and China, conducted High-Level Trade Dialogue with the United States and negotiated """Statement of Principles for International Investment" and "Trade Principles for Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Services”. Janelidze was representing Georgia in negotiations on establishing the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. In addition to the trade policy, Mikheil was responsible for the economic policy, construction policy and spatial development. He supervised the construction code drafting process and initiated the process of preparation of the first spatial development plan of Georgia. Mikheil was a member of the task-force responsible for the development of the “Produce in Georgia” program.
Diplomacy Janelidze first entered the diplomatic service of Georgia in 2002 as an expert at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, where he worked until 2003.
In September 2015, Janelidze returned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and held the position of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs before his appointment as a Foreign Minister of Georgia in December 2015. During this period, he was supervising diplomatic relations with the Americas and economic diplomacy. Janelidze co-chaired Democracy and Governance Working Group and People-to-People and Cultural Exchanges Working Groups of the U.S.-Georgia Strategic Partnership Commission (SPC).
In December 2015, the parliament of Georgia approved Mikheil Janelidze as a foreign minister in the new cabinet, headed by the Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
Georgia's Conflict with the Russian Federation Mikheil Janelidze pursued diplomacy oriented on resolving the conflict with the Russian Federation by exclusively peaceful means, in accordance with relevant international agreements and with full respect for the fundamental principles of international law.
Mikheil worked on activation of all international formats and instruments for addressing issues related to the de-occupation of the Georgian territories by the Russian military forces and human rights violations on the territories. Janelidze was the first foreign minister of Georgia to participate in the debate related to the conflict at the Security Council of the UN since the Russian military invasion in Georgia in 2008. In 2017 and 2018, record number of UN Members voted in favor of the United Nations General Assembly resolution reiterating the right of return of all displaced persons and refugees to Georgia’s Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia. In 2017, the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Council (HRC) adopted the first Resolution on Cooperation with Georgia, expressing serious concern over the human rights and humanitarian situation in Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Regions of Georgia, calling for immediate access for the Office of the High Commissioner to the regions and reaffirming the commitment of the HRC to the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders. In 2016, the Committee of Ministers' Deputies of the Council of Europe with absolute majority adopted a decision, which, first time, emphasized the responsibility of Russia as a state exercising effective control over Georgia’s occupied territories to ensure the protection of human rights there. For the first time since the Russia-Georgia war in August 2008, a special group within the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) adopted a declaration on the conflict that supports Georgia's territorial integrity and condemned the occupation of Georgian soil. In May 2017, U.S. President Donald Trump signed the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2017, which, for the first time, included the US sanction, a provision that no appropriated funds may be used to support "the Russian occupation of the Georgian territories of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali Region/South Ossetia" or to assist the governments of other countries that have recognized the two territories' independence. This was the first time when the Russian occupation of the Georgian territories appeared in a US legislative act. The August 2017 Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act, inter alia, made reference to Russia's "illegal occupation of South Ossetia and Abkhazia in Georgia" and its disregard of "the terms of the August 2008 ceasefire agreement".
Janelidze was supportive to Geneva International Discussions and Georgia's constructive participation in this format. In 2016, during the 35th round of the Geneva International Discussions, the agreement was reached on the resumption of meetings of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism in Gali (IPRM), Abkhazia region. The other priorities within this format were achieving fulfillment by the Russian Federation of the cease-fire agreement through de-occupation, creation of international security mechanisms and non-use of force pledge by Russia, together with the protection of IDPs, their return and creation of dignified conditions for them. As the Geneva Talks were held on the level of the working groups, Janelidze was actively raising the issue of reconvening the talks on the higher level, including the plenary format.
In April 2018, the Government of Georgia adopted a new peacemaking initiative "Step Towards a Better Future" aimed at improving the humanitarian, social and economic conditions of the populations in Georgia’s Russian-occupied regions through enhanced cooperation across the occupation line. "The package of proposals adopted today by the Government of Georgia can benefit the citizens living on both sides of the Administrative Boundary Lines by facilitating trade, education and mobility," said the EU spokesperson in a statement issued on 4 April. The initiative was presented by Mikheil Janelidze and discussed on the side event of the "High-Level meeting on peacebuilding and sustaining peace" organized by the UN.
European and Euro-Atlantic Integration