Stoltenberg: “Georgia has all practical tools to prepare for NATO membership”

"Allies are determined to increase and intensify the level of NATO’s support for Georgia,” says NATO top official, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"As an aspirant country, Georgia has all the practical tools to prepare for NATO membership. And NATO is committed to helping Georgia on this path.”

Stoltenberg spoke these strong words of support today while visiting Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

#Georgia has all practical tools to prepare for #NATO membership & NATO is committed to helping Georgia on this path – SG @jensstoltenberg

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) September 7, 2016

A Tweet by NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu

He and other NATO leaders representing the alliance’s North Atlantic Council (NAC) are currently in Tbilisi. Why? Stoltenburg said the purpose of the high level NATO visit was to "reconfirm the importance of [NATO’s] partnership with Georgia.”

"NATO and Georgia have a remarkable, mutually supportive relationship. Our partnership is strong and our partnership is getting even stronger,” he said.

#NATO SG @jensstoltenberg: Today the North Atlantic Council is in Tbilisi to confirm our commitment to #Georgiapic.twitter.com/n9Bdtv6BNs

— Carmen Romero (@NATODepSpox) September 7, 2016

A Tweet by Head of NATO Press and Media Carmen Romero

The NAC is the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), consisting of Permanent Representatives from its member countries. The group came to Georgia after being invited by the Georgian side.

Earlier today the NATO leaders took part in a NATO-Georgia Commission meeting, where Stoltenberg, Ambassadors from all NATO Allies and Georgia’s Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili discussed Georgia’s contributions to transatlantic security, regional security, and Tbilisi’s reform progress.

The Black Sea region and Georgia are part of Europe and security in Europe can’t be assured without stability in this region, Prime Minister Kvirikashvili said in his opening speech.

He stressed no aspirant country had a closer relationship to NATO than Georgia and underscored becoming a NATO member was the "firm will” of the Georgian people, and the country’s Government spared no effort to make this a reality.

"We are very proud of our significant contribution to the NATO-led operations and [we] stand ready to continue to prove ourselves as a reliable and strategic partner for the Alliance,” Kvirikashvili said.

Thank you @jensstoltenberg for the visit. #Georgia is one of the most compliant and trustworthy partner. @NATOpic.twitter.com/yligY09GZb

— Giorgi Kvirikashvili (@KvirikashviliGi) September 7, 2016

A Tweet y Georgia's Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili

Stoltenberg, too, praised Georgia’s contributions and said: "We value and honour the extraordinary sacrifices made by Georgian men and women while contributing to our shared security.”

SG @jensstoltenberg: #NATO grateful for the service of #Georgia’s soldiers – in Afghanistan, in NATO Response Force & in the Mediterranean.

— Oana Lungescu (@NATOpress) September 7, 2016

A Tweet by NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu

The Commission meeting discussed the implementation progress of the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package, offered to Georgia to help the country strengthen its defence capabilities, interoperability and resilience capabilities. The support package was an initiative that was originally launched in 2014 at the NATO Summit in Wales, and then strengthened at the Summit in Warsaw this past July.

Opening remarks at NATO-Georgia Commission in Tbilisi

Stoltenberg warmly noted Georgia recently had carried out a "very ambitious” defence reform and he praised the country for its progress in the implementation of the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package.

He also mentioned several other directions that Georgia had shown improvement. These included:

1. Institutional reforms
2. Electoral reform
3. Freedom of the media

The NATO top official stressed the implementation of democratic reforms were beneficial for Georgia for two reasons; firstly that they would contribute to Georgia’s general development, and secondly that it would bring Georgia closer to NATO membership.

He added Georgia had all the necessary tools to move towards NATO membership and he named some of them, such as:

• The NATO-Georgia Commission;
• The Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, which is delivering results;
• The Joint Training and Evaluation Centre we inaugurated last year, which is now up and running. ("This Training Centre is increasing the modern combat skills of Georgian soldiers, and our ability to work together);
• And Allied experts here in Tbilisi, helping bolster defence reform.

Kvirikashvili reiterated the Georgian Government did its best to efficiently use all of these opportunities offered by the support package. He stressed all of the recent efforts were aimed to achieve Georgia’s ultimate goal – becoming a member of the alliance.

#NAC visit is a demonstration of #NATO’s political support and solidarity to #Georgia#NACGEO2016pic.twitter.com/Ic87GrATC9

— Mikheil Janelidze (@JanelidzeMkh) September 7, 2016

A Tweet by Georgia's Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze

Standing beside Stoltenberg at a press conference following the Commission meeting, Kvirikashvili said in a month’s time Georgia would hold Parliamentary Elections, which would be "another important step towards the country’s democratic development”.

"The Government is committed to ensuring these elections meet internationally recognised democratic standards,” he said.

"The Government’s efforts are directed at ensuring a pre-election environment as pluralistic, open and transparent as possible where many political subjects have equal opportunities to communicate their election program and messages with their electorates.”

Preparation for the October 8 elections was discussed at a meeting between Stoltenberg and Margvelashvili when they met earlier this morning, before the NATO-Georgia Commission meeting this afternoon.

The NATO-Georgia Commission was established in 2008. Its purpose is to provide an ongoing forum for political dialogue and cooperation between NATO and Georgia.

Meanwhile tomorrow - the second and final day of the NAC’s visit to Georgia – the NATO delegation will meet with President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze, Defence Minister Levan Izoria, Parliament Speaker David Usupashvili and members of the Georgian Parliament.

Furthermore while in Georgia NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg and several NATO Ambassadors will participate in the Tbilisi International Conference, while Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow will open the new Information Centre on NATO and the European Union in Tbilisi.

The NAC will also visit the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Centre, which is helping to enhance the interoperability of forces from Georgia, NATO allies and partners through joint training and exercises.