NATO Secretary General on his way to Georgia for first visit

The NATO Secretary General will officially open the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Centre in Krtsanisi Military Facility tomorrow.
Agenda.ge, 26 Aug 2015 - 14:33, Tbilisi,Georgia

The top official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) is coming to Georgia today but according to his agenda the main activities of the visit are planned for tomorrow, August 27.

Jens Stoltenberg will meet the Prime Minister of Georgia tomorrow and the leaders will hold a joint press conference at 12:05 pm.

The NATO Secretary General will officially open the NATO-Georgian Joint Training and Evaluation Centre in Krtsanisi Military Facility at 2:45 pm.

Establishment of the training centre in Georgia was one of the key initiatives of the Substantial Package, offered to Georgia at the NATO Summit in Wales last year. The Centre was designed to conduct pre-deployment training and certification of units assigned to NATO-led and other international operations.

The facility will be a place where Georgian and NATO militaries will undergo trainings and will have the capability to host multinational, joint and combined exercises and training. It will also serve as a place where servicemen can be evaluated and gain certification.

Georgia’s Minister of Defence Tinatin Khidasheli inspected the facility on August 24 and announced on her official Twitter account that the preparations were almost finished:

This [centre] will be Georgia’s largest joint project with NATO by its scale, function and importance,” she told local media. "Finally, it will serve not only for the safety of Georgia.”

Georgia’s Foreign Ministry said on August 21 that the NATO official will also meet the hundred Georgian soldiers who were specially trained for the NATO fast reaction forces.

While in Georgia Stoltenberg will also meet with the country’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Foreign Minister Tamar Beruchashvili, Defence Minister Khidasheli and with members of the Georgian Parliament, including Speaker David Usupashvili.

At these meetings the sides will discuss Georgia’s implementation of the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package offered to the country at the Wales Summit last year, as well as the country’s preparation for next year’s NATO Warsaw Summit.

Stoltenberg will summarise his first official Georgian visit at a joint press conference with President Margvelashvili tomorrow at 5:15 pm at the Presidential Palace.