Georgia reforms its Armed Forces, bringing it closer to NATO

Reforming the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF) is one more step that brings the country closer to NATO.

After a National Security Council meeting in Tbilisi yesterday it was revealed Georgia will have two operational commands – one for the country’s east and the other for the country’s west.

The change will be part of a major reform in the GAF, which should be carried out next month.

National Security Council meeting in Tbilisi.Photo by President's Press Office. 

The National Security Council meeting was attended by President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Defence Minister Tinatin Khidasheli, Secretary of the National Security Council Irina Imerlishvili, Head of the State Security Service Vakhtang Gomelauri and other officials.

"Our goal is to make the GAF more mobile, efficient and compatible with NATO system,” Khidasheli said following the meeting.

"The President will sign the decision tomorrow, according to which there will be two operational commands in Georgia – one for the west and the other for the east.”

According to the Georgian Constitution, the structure of GAF is approved by the country’s President.

Khdasheli said the new structure would allow the Defence Minister to define the inner structure of each command. She added she had a month to conclude the reform.

"My deadline is the end of the month and the main goal is to make GAF easier to operate,” the Defence Minister said.

"There shouldn’t be absolute centralisation and we should mobilise our resources to avoid the situation where during a threat one of the parts of Georgia is vulnerable. The August War [in 2008] showed that Georgia, in fact, split into two.”

President Margvelashvili talked about Georgia’s North-Atlantic aspirations after the meeting.

"Our position and message are very clear: Georgia aspires to become a NATO member and we are preparing for the upcoming summit,” Margvelashvili said.

He added this was a "firm position” of Georgia which was shared by all Governmental branches and state structures.