NATO Military Committee on high-ranking visit to Georgia
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A high-ranking NATO delegation headed by the chairman of its Military Committee is on an official visit to Georgia to discuss cooperation between the country and the alliance.
Comprising military representatives from 29 states, the visiting team is led by committee chairman General Petr Pavel.
Arriving in Tbilisi earlier today, the delegation held its first meetings at the Ministry of Defence of Georgia.
Met w/ GEO MoD Mr Izoria & CHoD BG Chachibaia to discuss ongoing defence reforms & results of Substantial #NATO#Georgia Package. pic.twitter.com/bycS80Btzy
— Petr Pavel (@CMC_NATO) March 2, 2017
The Georgian side of the meeting involved Minister of Defence Levan Izoria, First Deputy Minister Lela Chikovani, Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia and Head of Georgia’s NATO Mission Alexander Maisuradze.
The bilateral meeting included a discussion of Georgia’s progress in the defence field as well as security challenges facing the country and its role in Black Sea regional security.
Georgia’s Defence Ministry also said the agenda of the discussion featured "mechanisms of NATO-Georgia cooperation” and the ongoing implementation of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package.
Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia said defence training, educational projects and Georgia’s participation in the international peacekeeping mission was also part of the list of topics for the talks.
Today's meeting between the sides was held at the Ministry of Defence in Tbilisi. Photo: Georgia's Defence Ministry press office.
The NATO Military Committee is the alliance’s senior military authority and the oldest permanent body in the organisation after the North Atlantic Council.
The committee is "the primary source of military advice to NATO’s civilian decision-making bodies” and "provides guidance” for the two strategic bodies — Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation — of the alliance.
The Military Committee is on its second visit to Georgia. The delegation is scheduled to hold meetings with the Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili and President Giorgi Margvelashvili before departing the country.
Women’s participation in peacekeeping and conflict solution was among the main issues discussed at a conference on gender equality today held on the occasion of Gender Week.
NATO defence ministers and high-ranking Georgian officials are preparing for a NATO-Georgia Commission meeting scheduled for tomorrow in Brussels.
Georgian Defence Minister Levan Izoria met with his Romanian and Lithuanian counterparts ahead of the NATO-Georgia Commission meeting scheduled for later today.
A 10-day defence exercise between Georgia and its partner countries including NATO member states has ended with a special ceremony honouring participants of the intensive joint drills.
Chairperson of NATO Military Committee Petr Pavel said the alliance wants to assist Georgia in establishing "effective and sustainable armed forces”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg released an annual report for 2016 on Monday, describing the work carried out by the alliance over the past year.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated at the international Georgian Defence and Security Conference in Tbilisi today that Georgia’s integration into NATO is the guarantee of peace and security in the country.