PM Garibashvili: No foreign military units deployed in Georgia without agreement

Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili believes no foreign miltary units would be deployed in Georgia without agreement of the country's lawmakers.

His comments were in response to a warning from the Russian Foreign Ministry, who said deploying NATO infrastructure in Georgia would undermine stability in the region. To this Garibashvili said it was the "Government’s common position.”

When asked by Georgian journalists if he agreed with the position of two Georgian Ministers that Russia posed the biggest threat to the security of the region, and withdrawing Russian military bases from Georgia was the premise for providing security in the region, the Georgian leader was cautious in his response.

"[Defence Minister Irakli Alasania and Georgia’s State Minister on European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili] are members of the Government. Twenty percent of Georgia’s territory is occupied, thus our position is no one foreign country’s single military unit will not be deployed in Georgia without the agreement of the country’s Government,” Garibashvili said.

Earlier today, in response to the Russian Foreign Ministry's statement, Alasania said the only "huge threat” to the region was Russia and "NATO infrastructure” would be set in Georgia as defined by the package the country received at the Wales Summit, which included defence capacity building, training, exercises, strengthened liaison, and enhanced interoperability opportunities.

Meanwhile Petriashvili said stability in the region would only happen if Russia’s armed forces withdrew from Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.

This was the second "concerning” statement" from the Russian Foreign Ministry based on unproved and denied information in recent days.

On October 2 Russia’s Foreign Ministry publically stated if Georgia’s so-called offer to host a training camp for Syrian rebels was established, it "would affect Georgia very negatively”.

The official Russian statement was released even though the Georgian Government and the country’s Prime Minister strongly denied such an offer had been made.