NATO official: Georgia will be offered an unprecedented package
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Elements of the "an unprecedented package” which Georgia will be offered from NATO is already revealed by NATO Secretary General Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai.
Georgia’s Public Broadcaster’s news program Moambe spoke to Appathurai, who spoke about the elements included in the NATO-proposed package to Georgia. He said NATO member states had already reached an agreement in that regard.
The elements that NATO’s substantive package prepared for Georgia includes, first – the North Atlantic Alliance offers Georgia to participate in the strategic discussions; second – NATO training and education center is planned to be opened in Georgia and third - the implementation of new programs and Georgia's involvement in NATO rapid reaction forces are provided to strengthen the defense capability, Appaturai said.
Details of the package in terms of future cooperation have already been agreed with NATO member states.
Georgia will [be offered] an unprecedented package. We have never given such kind of a package to any non-NATO member states, he added.
The decision made by NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels have "triggered a lot of discussion in Georgia” but Georgia is "moving closer to NATO, maybe not through a giant step, but at a steady pace,” said NATO Secretary General Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai on his Facebook page on June 25.
On his profile, he said Georgians were "disappointed” NATO decided not to grant the country with a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the NATO Summit in Wales in September.
But Georgia’s progress will not go unnoticed at the Summit.
On his facebook post, Appathurai said NATO would offer Georgia "an unprecedented package” that would connect Georgia to NATO closer than in before.
At the Summit in Wales, we will put in place an unprecedented package, connecting Georgia to NATO more deeply and more substantially than it has ever been before, and I believe, more than any other non-NATO country, Appathurai emphasized online.
Secondly, we still have to begin negotiations on the Summit Communique, which I am sure will reconfirm the Bucharest commitment that Georgia will be a NATO member, and clarify the progress Georgia is making on that path, Appathurai continued.
I know there is disappointment among many that MAP will not be granted, but actually Georgia is moving closer to NATO, maybe not through a giant step, but at a steady pace. And that is the result of the hard work, and good diplomacy, of the Georgian Government, present and past.
Meanwhile, the NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the NATO Summit in Wales in September "will not be about Membership Action Plan” (MAP) for Georgia.
The Secretary General believed the decision NATO took in Bucharest in 2008 still stood and "Georgia would become a member of NATO” one day, provided the country fulfilled all necessary conditions.
Georgia's Foreign Minister said Rasmussen "abosolutely agreed” that Georgia had made significant progress in recent years and that it should be adequately praised from the Alliance.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Georgia will not be offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the NATO Summit in Wales in September.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has a "pretty restrained approach” to enlarging its alliance, said Georgian authorities after NATO offered "a substantive package” to the country but made no mention of potential NATO membership.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has agreed in principle to offer "a substantive package” to Georgia to help it come closer to NATO but made no mention of membership.
A positive report of Georgia and the success of its recent local elections could play an important part in the country’s future relationship with NATO.
NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai will pay an official visit to Georgia to discuss the "substantive package” NATO will offer Georgia at the Wales Summit in September.
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili will represent the country at the NATO Summit in Wales in September.
NATO’s regional envoy for the Caucasus region has offered his reassurances to the Georgian nation that the country will become more secure following the NATO Summit in Wales later this year.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should support non-member countries to build up their defensive capabilities to allow them to protect their region.
A Georgian delegation, led by President Giorgi Margvelashvili, has left for the United Kingdom to take part in the NATO Summit in Wales on September 4 and 5.