NATO Summit: What does Gold Card status mean for Georgia?
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The State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili explains the meaning of the package being offered by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) to Georgia at the NATO Summit in the United Kingdom.
"Our package is distinguished from all; we are "Gold Card” holders,” the State Minister said in his blog for Agenda.ge.
Petriashvili is among the Georgian delegation of high officials attending the NATO Summit in Newport, Wales.
"These countries ["Gold Card” holders] have been assessed and stand out as the most compatible [NATO] partners. They have made a special contribution to international security operations and during those operations it was clear that they were most compatible,” Petriashvili commented to journalists in Wales.
Georgia was the largest non-NATO troop contributing nation in Afghanistan followed by the four new enchanced partners - Jordan, Australia, Sweden and Finland.
The Minister believed additional opportunities to enhance Georgia’s partnership with NATO would emerge once the package was announced, and it would only have one main goal: "to fasten Georgia’s NATO membership”.
At yesterday’s opening day of the NATO Wales Summit, Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili met NATO’s top official and discussed the support package NATO will offer Georgia in the next two days.
NATO Security General Anders Fogh Rasmussen published an announcement on his Twitter account after the meeting:
Tomorrow we’ll launch a new coop package to help strengthen #Georgia’s defence, prepare for membership. #NATOsummitUK
— AndersFogh Rasmussen (@AndersFoghR) September 4, 2014
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has agreed in principle to offer "a substantive package” to Georgia to help it come closer to NATO but made no mention of membership.
On the opening day of the NATO Summit in Wales, Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili met NATO’s top official and spoke briefly on the support package NATO will offer Georgia in the next two days.
The ongoing crisis in Ukraine and its potential impact on Georgia and other neighbouring countries was what Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told a UK audience today.
A positive report of Georgia and the success of its recent local elections could play an important part in the country’s future relationship with NATO.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Georgia will not be offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the NATO Summit in Wales in September.
The NATO Summit meeting in Wales comes at a critical time in the Alliance’s history – when the global security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable and unstable, says NATO.
NATO may hold military exercises in Georgia and establish a military training centre in the country, see more Georgian participation in NATO exercises and possibly expand the local NATO liaison office - a top NATO official said.
A Georgian delegation, led by President Giorgi Margvelashvili, has left for the United Kingdom to take part in the NATO Summit in Wales on September 4 and 5.
More details of the NATO support package being offered to Georgia at this week’s NATO Summit has been revealed by Georgia’s Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania at a conference for budding young leaders from all over the globe.
‘NATO will assist Georgia, Jordan and Iraq’, is the pledge British Prime Minister David Cameron made today at a meeting on the second day of the NATO Summit in Wales.
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelasvili is rubbing shoulders with world leaders at the NATO Summit in Wales, United Kingdom.
Georgia’s efforts have been recognised by NATO leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Summit in Wales. NATO officials praised Georgia for its efforts to progress its nation and reconfirmed its intentions to one day invite Georgia into the Alliance.
The NATO Summit in Wales has ended and the President of Georgia is leaving on a high note. Giorgi Margvelashvili commended the UK Government for its "gracious hospitality and excellent organisation of the Summit" and thanked the Georgian delegation "for achieving success" at the international leaders' meeting.
The US President’s Administration issued a statement that emphasized the efforts of the US an NATO to support Alliance partners and share their burdens and support them when needed "to accomplish our common security goals”.
NATO’s representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia region has explained a part of the Wales Summit Declaration relating to conflict in the region.
Days after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in Wales ended, United States (US) Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel is visiting Georgia on his first official visit. In a meeting with Georgian officials yesterday, Hagel pledged the US would help the former Soviet republic improve its security.
The Georgian minister responsible for overseeing the country’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration is in Latvia to discuss with international officials what next year’s Eastern Partnership Summit can offer partner countries.
A top United States (US) Army representative has pledged the US will assist Georgia to further increase its defensive capabilities and support Georgia's NATO aspirations.