Georgia-France celebrate defence partnership:
10 year anniversary of Sachkhere Mountain Training School

Georgia and France are marking a significant milestone in defence cooperation – today marks the 10th anniversary of the Sachkhere Mountain Training School.

Georgia’s Minister of Defence Levan Izoria and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian celebrated the occasion with other defence officials at the school earlier today.

The French high official addressed staff and soldiers at the training facility by praising the close defence cooperation between Georgia and France since the two countries signed a partnership agreement in 1997, which resulted in the founding of the Sachkhere Mountain Training School in 2006.

Minister of Defence of Georgia Levan Izoria (first from left) and his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian (second from left) were given a demonstration training at the Sachkhere training school earlier today. Photo from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.

Today’s celebratory event included a tour of the facilities and infrastructure, led by the training school’s commander Lieutenant Colonel Ivane Tskhadadze, and a special demonstration of training activities.

Georgia and France have cooperated within the Sachkhere Mountain Training School project since 2006.

From 2006 to 2009, French experts came to Georgia to share their training skills with their Georgian colleagues working and learning at the school.

This was followed by a program involving Georgian mountain training instructors who annually travelled to France to improve their knowledge and skills in mountain training, learning from battalion-sized troops of the French armed forces.

A service member of the Sachkhere Moutain Training School in action during the demonstration training. Photo from the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.

Today's ceremony also served as a symbolic departure of a Georgian peacekeeping platoon for service within the European Union Training Mission in the Central African Republic (EUTM RCA).

The unit was selected from the II Infantry Brigade of the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) and is scheduled to carry out its six-month mission within the French contingent deployed in the republic's capital Bangui.

The Georgian platoon will be tasked with providing base security and carrying out motorised patrols within their mission in the capital city.

Georgia's Defence Minister addressed the ceremony today and said he and Le Drian had agreed to visit the Georgian platoon during their service in the Central African Republic.