Georgia benefits from Obama’s $1bn Europe security package

President of United States of America Barack Obama hopes to create a $1 billion fund to help boost defensive capabilities of European allies following Russia’s renewal of aggression in Eastern Europe.

President Obama said the fund would offer support to NATO allies, including Georgia. He also planned to increase joint exercises and send more US military equipment to Eastern Europe.

The US President announced his initiative on Tuesday at the beginning of a four-day European trip.

The Wall Street Journal reported the $1 billion fund (1.7 billion GEL) would be called the European Reassurance Initiative and would require congressional approval before coming into play. Obama has called on Congress to approve the fund this afternoon.

The fund was earmarked to pay for added military exercises in Europe, including further Navy deployments to the Black Sea and Baltic Sea.

"It also could be used to aid the militaries of countries such as Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia,” American Administration officials told the Wall Street Journal.

Georgia's Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze welcomed Obama's initiative and said she expected "a concrete result from this very concrete message of support".

She did not speak about any details as, she said, there was no dialogue begun surrounding this issue yet. 

"However, we welcome any initiative that strengthen our security," Panjikidze said.

Ambassador of US to Georgia, Richard Norland spoke positively of Obama’s plan and said his initiative reflected the US support policy to its partners. He did not know many details about the plan and said he would discuss the issue further when he had more information about the fund.

However he did say: "The President’s initiative reaffirms our commitment to increasing the capability, readiness, and responsiveness of NATO forces to address any threat and deter destabilizing actions. The proposal also calls for increased security cooperation with Georgia and the region,” Norland said.

He said the US would continue to work with the Georgian military to enhance its interoperability with NATO and to further develop its defensive capabilities.