Georgian Defence Forces Chief, NATO Military Committee Chair discuss military cooperation
Matiashvili briefed Bauer on the ongoing transformation process in the GDF, in addition to important initiatives under the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. Photo: MOD of Georgia
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Priorities and future prospects of the NATO-Georgia military cooperation were discussed on Wednesday in a meeting between Major General Giorgi Matiashvili, the Chief of the Georgian Defence Forces, and Admiral Rob Bauer, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee.
Matiashvili thanked Bauer for his support for Georgia and stressed the importance of strengthening cooperation and increasing GDF compatibility with the alliance in the light of “existing threats and challenges,” the Ministry of Defence said.
Held in Brussels, the meeting focused on the security environment in the Black Sea region and the large-scale aggression launched by Russia against Ukraine. Georgian and NATO military officials expressed their solidarity with the Ukrainian people and condemned Russia's actions.
Matiashvili briefed Bauer on the ongoing transformation process in the GDF, in addition to important initiatives under the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package.
He also informed the Chair of the Military Committee on the long-term development plan for strengthening Georgia's defence capacity, which envisages use of “all practical mechanisms” of cooperation with NATO and aims to increase GDF capabilities.
The meeting also noted Georgia's contribution to NATO-led international peacekeeping operations, with the Georgian delegation expressing its readiness to continue participating in the alliance’s future missions and operations.
Georgia has carried out ‘impressive reforms’ while enhancing its defence capabilities through the substantial NATO-Georgia package, Head of NATO Military Committee Admiral Rob Bauer stated yesterday following two-day meetings of the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session (MCCS).
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that NATO allies have called on Russia to withdraw forces from Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova at a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council held earlier today.
Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, on Friday said the upcoming Madrid Summit would be a “good opportunity” for the alliance to reaffirm its support for Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path.
Nothing will change Georgia’s determination to pursue its path toward the European Union and NATO membership, President Salome Zourabichvili said on Thursday in an interview with the French magazine Marie Claire.
Major General Giorgi Matiashvili, the Chief of the Georgian Defence Forces, was part of a meeting of the European Union Military Committee on Wednesday in Brussels.
The West made its first “mistake” back in 2008 in not outlining a “clear path” to NATO for Georgia and Ukraine, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Secretary-General of the Alliance, has said in an interview with the Foreign Policy magazine.
Shalva Papuashvili, the Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, on Monday stressed that the Georgian authorities saw the guarantee of the country’s security under the NATO “umbrella”.