The relationship between Georgia and Sweden is strengthening following the signing of a bilateral agreement to exchange and protect classified information between Defence Ministries.
Georgia’s Defence Ministry signed the Exchange and Protection of Classified Information agreement with a Swedish military official in Tbilisi today.
Head of Georgia’s Defence Ministry’s Department of International Relations and Euro-Atlantic Integration Davit Nardaia signed the document on behalf of the Georgian side while Swedish Military Intelligence and Security Service official Julius Liljestrom signed the document on behalf of Sweden.
Both sides said the level of cooperation between Sweden and Georgia was advancing at a fast pace and expressed hope that the existing partnership will continue successfully.
Georgia’s Defence Ministry again emphasized the significance of the support package offered to Georgia at the September NATO Summit in Wales and the Alliance’s offer for Georgia to join the Enhanced Opportunity Partner group alongside Sweden.
At the second day of the NATO leaders’ Summit in Wales on September 5, the then NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen [who has since been replaced by ….] emphasized that Georgia was among the group of five nations, who seek "enhanced opportunities” of cooperation with NATO. The other four countries were Australia, Finland, Jordan and Sweden.
Meanwhile at today’s meeting the parties also discussed and identified ways how Georgia and Sweden could enhance their bilateral cooperation in the future in the defensive sector.
The relationship between the ministries was noted in the Bilateral Cooperation Plan 2015, and included new spheres such as internal audit, protocol and NATO classified information security related issues.
Meanwhile the NATO website claimed Swedish military were "actively engaged” in the Georgia IV Trust Fund project, which aimed to locate and eradicate unexploded landmines and make the country safer. Some territory in Georgia remained unstable since the 2008 Russia-Georgia August war and the project aimed to remedy this.
On October 31 at the Embassy of the Czech Republic in Tbilisi, NATO Support Agency (NSPA) and Georgia launched the fourth NATO/Partnership for Peace program to clear unexploded landmines on Georgian territory.
The project will make the area safe for the local population and usable for the local authority, said NATO Support Agency Project Officer David Towndrow.
The Georgia IV Trust Fund project is being co-led by Czech Republic and Lithuania.