NATO praises Georgia’s Defence Ministry

NATO has praised the Georgian Defence Ministry for its strong support, progressing NATO’s anticorruption program and making significant gains in fighting corruption.

The organisation’s Building Integrity (BI) Peer Review team prepared a report which analysed steps taken by the Ministry to promote transparency and integrity, and highlighted areas requiring further improvement.

In a letter to Defence Minister Irakli Alasania, NATO Acting Assistant Secretary General, James Appathurai wrote that the report preparation process "identified a number of good practices and innovative approaches initialed by the Ministry.”

Appathurai particularly drew attention to the steps Georgia have taken to:

• Increase the use of electronic procurement systems
• Enhance relations with civil society through regular contacts and establishment of the Citizen’s Reception Office
• Make use of promotion boards and independent testing of personnel
• Introduce an online asset declaration system to prevent corruption

"It is recommended that Georgia make use of both NATO and Southeastern European Defence Ministerial (SEDM) tools to promote your experiences and lessons learned,” he wrote in his letter.

"The BI team and the NATO Headquarters, as well as the network of NATO BI Subject Matter Experts and Implementing Partners, remain at your disposal and stand ready to assist you in taking forward work to strengthen transparency, accountability, and the integrity as well promoting good practice,” he stated.

The report was based on the self-assessment questionnaire prepared by the Georgian Defence Ministry and information gathered during the visit of the NATO BI Experts Team on December 9-12.

The BI Program is a part of NATO’s commitment to strengthening good governance in the defence and security sector established by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 2007.