Georgia, UK sign deal furthering defence partnership

Georgia and the United Kingdom have signed a deal on furthering their bilateral cooperation as officials from the two countries held a meeting in Tbilisi on Friday.

The two-year agreement, designed for the years 2018-2019, was signed by First Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia Lela Chikovani and UK Ministry of Defence head of department Paula Hothersall.

Its signing followed a meeting at the Defence Ministry in Tbilisi where the two sides reviewed their partnership in areas including defence education and participation in international exercises.

The UK-Georgia defence partnership will be further extended following last year’s Bilateral Cooperation Plan. Photo: Georgia’s Defence Ministry press office.

Chikovani expressed her gratitude to the British colleagues for the support in implementation of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP), an initiative for developing closer security cooperation and interoperability between Georgia and the alliance’s members.

The meeting also involved presentations from the Defence Ministry and the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Georgia about reforms at the institutions and security matters facing the country.

Georgia’s Defence Minister Levan Izoria and his British counterpart Michael Fallon signed the Bilateral Cooperation Plan between the countries last year.

The plan included prospects for increased participation of UK troops in defence drills held in Georgia as well as British support for the SNGP.