James Appathurai pledges “more NATO in Georgia”

Georgia and other countries facing pressure from Russia deserve more support to develop their defensive capacities, said a top NATO official while speaking during an online Question and Answer (Q&A) session today.

James Appathurai, NATO’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia region, spoke about the plight of Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine during today’s online session, hosted by Atlantic Council of Georgia, where he answered questions from the Georgian community.

He emphasized Georgia was receiving "by far the most defence capacity building support from NATO” to strengthen its defence capability.

We are creating a Joint Training Centre in Georgia, as well as a Defence Capacity Building School, embedding experts in the Georgian Defence Ministry, and we will hold a NATO exercise open to partners in Georgia this year,” he said.

In essence, there will be more NATO in Georgia, both in terms of visibility and concrete support. If individual countries decide to offer bilateral support to Georgia, in terms of equipment or training, that will only complement NATO’s efforts,” Appathurai said.

When asked what Georgia should expect from the next NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016, Appathurai said the allies "haven’t even begun to discuss” what might happen at Warsaw next summer, but he said he was sure NATO would thank Georgia for its contribution.

I’m sure we will reiterate that Georgia will become a NATO member, as set out in Bucharest and subsequent decisions. I have no doubt we will thank Georgia for its substantial contribution to international security, and I know we will assess the implementation of the Substantial Package, and see where we can boost it even more,” he said.

At the end of the conversation Appathurai confirmed NATO will continue naval exercises in the Back Sea.

"A NATO exercise, open to partners, [will] be held in Georgia this summer. It will clearly pose a threat to no other state but it will just as clearly illustrate the depth of our cooperation,” Appathurai said.