Defence official summarises NATO cooperation with clergy as part of awareness campaign

The Georgian deputy defence minister Grigol Giorgadze on Friday summarised the country’s relations and projects with NATO in a meeting with clerics of the Georgian Orthodox church as part of an awareness campaign by local organisations for ensuring the religious institution’s engagement in the country’s Euro-Atlantic integration.

Speaking about the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package at the meeting hosted in the eastern city of Telavi and organised by the Information Centre on NATO, the European Union and the Union 21 Century, the official put emphasis on the importance of conducting multinational military exercises in Georgia, as well as the role and capabilities of the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre. 

Georgian clergymen attending a meeting on Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration: Photo: defence ministry press office 

Giorgadze told religious figures the Georgian government was “thoroughly fulfilling its commitments” to the alliance, with the efforts “positively evaluated by NATO and its member states”. 

The awareness campaign’s effort to secure the engagement of the church institution in the European and Euro-Atlantic integration looks to address the issue of the often critical comments made about Western integration from domestic religious figures.

The Georgian Orthodox church patriarchate is named as the second most trusted institution in the country after the armed forces in a majority of public polls, while Patriarch Ilia II is on the top of surveys of the most trusted figures in the country.