Georgia: NATO’s valuable partner

Georgia is a "very valuable partner” to NATO and the alliance supports the country on its way to Euro-Atlantic integration. 

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee General Knud Bartels, who heads the NATO military delegation to Tbilisi, made this comment after his meeting with Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Alasania.

Bartels thanked Georgia for its contribution to International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) operations in Afghanistan and said NATO supported all the reforms Georgia had implemented in the Armed Forces.

Bartels expressed his happiness in Georgia’s decision to become involved in the NATO Response Force from 2015, which will be fully sponsored by the United States.

"It has already been decided that Georgia will become part of the NATO immediate response task force from 2015 and a sponsor state has already been selected,” Minister Alasania said at the joint press conference.

"The U.S. will insure readiness along with NATO military servants to provide an immediate response in case of crisis. This already means that our cooperation has moved to a new level,” he added.

Both parties underlined cooperation between Georgian and NATO military servants was similar to the relationship between military servants of the NATO member states.

Following this meeting, the group of international military officials participated in Georgia’s Military Committee session today.

Georgia’s security and defence transformation, the country’s contribution to the Euro-Atlantic security, and future NATO-Georgia military cooperation were discussed during the session.

The delegation will end its visit later today with a working dinner hosted by Georgia’s State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili.

The Military Committee is the highest military authority of NATO. It consists of NATO member countries’ military representatives and its main function is to provide the North Atlantic Council with consensus-based military advice and give clear military direction to NATO strategic commanders.

This is the Committee’s first visit to Georgia.