NATO Secretary General coming to Georgia in August

The top official from the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is coming to Georgia next month.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Georgia in August and open the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre.

The month of Stoltenberg’s visit was announced by Georgia’s Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli in an interview with Spanish news agency EFE.

Khidasheli also noted eight NATO officers would be permanently stationed in Georgia after the Centre had opened.

The Minister told the Spanish news agency she would "spare no effort" for Georgia to earn a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the next NATO Warsaw Summit planned for July 2016.

"For us it is very important and valuable that NATO opened its door to Montenegro,” Khidasheli said, adding it was a clear sign that NATO maintained its open door policy.

"The 2008 referendum in Georgia showed that three quarters of Georgia’s population supported Georgia’s membership in NATO,” Khidasheli said.

"If Georgia does not receive a MAP in Warsaw, this will be a big disappointment for Georgians.”

She also said she did not agree with the opinion that "old European” countries were against Georgia’s NATO membership.

"The biggest confirmation of support towards Georgia was France’s decision to sell its modern military air defence system to Georgia in June,” Khidasheli said.

Meanwhile also today Khidasheli announced her upcoming visit to the United States (US). She said in mid-August, just before the NATO top official came to Georgia, she would go to the US - Georgia's "main partner” - where she will meet her American counterpart Ashton Carter.