Richard Norland, a career diplomat, has been confirmed by the U.S. Senate as new ambassador to Georgia to replace John Bass, who has been serving in Tbilisi since late 2009.

Norland, a former ambassador to Uzbekistan and deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Afghanistan, was confirmed by the Senate on March 29 together with new ambassadors to fifteen other countries.

Norland spoke about the priorities of the U.S.-Georgia relationships during a confirmation hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on March 21.

Norland, a 32-year foreign service veteran, briefly served in Georgia in early 1990s in a capacity of the U.S. representative and acting head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, working on South Ossetia and Abkhazia conflict issues.

Before serving as an ambassador in Uzbekistan in 2007-2010, Norland, who is now international affairs advisor and deputy commandant at the National War College, Washington, D.C., was deputy chief of mission at the U.S. embassy in Kabul for two years.