What does NATO Secretary General’s annual report say about Georgia?

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg released an annual report for 2016 on Monday, describing the work carried out by the alliance over the past year.

The report reviews the current geopolitical situation in the world and describes what challenges NATO is facing and how the organisation is coping with them.

Georgia is mentioned in the document on multiple occasions, saying that Georgia is an aspirant country and one of the main partners of the alliance that is greatly contributing to NATO peacekeeping missions.

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Stoltenberg mentions Georgia in the section on NATO’s Open Door Policy as well. He says that NATO’s Open Door Policy is a founding principle of the treaty and one of the alliance’s great successes. He notes that Montenegro was invited to join the alliance in 2016 and adds that the invitation to Montenegro is "a clear sign that NATO’s door remains open” to those countries that want to join and that meet the criteria of membership.

"Work continues with other countries that wish to join the Alliance – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia – to help them prepare for NATO membership. NATO has a strong programme of cooperation with each aspiring member state to help it carry out the reforms necessary for membership”, Stoltenberg says.

A separate chapter is devoted to the review of the implementation of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. It says that defence capacity building for Georgia is provided through this package.

"The package includes the establishment of a Joint Training and Evaluation Centre, a Defence Institution Building School, and a Logistics Facility. It also provides expert advice in the areas of acquisition, strategic and operational plans, Special Operations Forces, military police, cyber defence, maritime security, aviation, air defence and strategic communications”, it says.

The report adds that the package also covers support and contributions to NATO exercises in Georgia, which are open to partners.

Georgia is also mentioned in the part of the report where Stoltenberg discusses NATO interoperability initiatives.

"The Partnership Interoperability Initiative also offers specific partners enhanced opportunities for deeper cooperation. Five partners (Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden) currently have access to enhanced cooperation, which includes tailored consultation on security matters and close participation in exercises”, he says.

He adds that all five Enhanced Opportunities Partners participated at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, and each participated in at least one of the four NATO ministerial meetings held in 2016.

• You can read the full report here.