Georgia-Italy bond strengthens after Defence Ministers’ meet

The possibility of Georgian and Italian military standing side-by-side on the battlefield and in training is being debated by the Georgian and Italian Defence Ministers in Italy today.

The prospects of bilateral cooperation in terms of defence, particularly in training and education of militaries, as well as Georgia’s NATO integration were the main topics discussed at a meeting between the two leaders at Palazzo Baracchini.

Georgia’s Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania and his Italian counterpart Roberta Pinotti, who was appointed Italy’s first female Defence Minister in February, focused on Georgia’s plans and future cooperation with NATO.

Granting the country a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the 2014 NATO Summit was also highlighted at the meeting and Pinotti stressed Italy "fully supported” Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations.

"Georgia and Italy have a very strong and friendly relationship that has been further strengthened by this meeting. And of course I will report to my Prime Minister all the information I was given today about the progress of Georgia so this can be a step forward in the integration campaign,” Pinotti said at a joint press conference after the meeting.

The two Defence Ministers conferred effective ways to hand over the security responsibility to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) following the end of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission, in which Georgia was involved.

Alasania expressed his gratitude to Pinotti for her hospitality and consistent support of Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations and steadfast position on Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

"I am pretty sure that our bilateral relationship will be deepened, will be stronger and wider and soon this relationship will be materialized in concrete steps from Italy and Georgia,” Alasania said.

Alasania spoke about the importance of the participation of Italian observers in the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) - a program to monitor borders, inter-ethnic relations, refugee traffic, and political and security developments within the borders of Georgia recognized by most of the international community.

The various reforms in the defence sphere were also outlined.

Alasania also introduced the recently implemented and future planned reforms in the defence sphere to his Italian counterpart.

According to Alasania, Georgia received a high assessment in the Annual National Program (ANP) for NATO Integration by NATO international staff and allies.