NATO Liaison Office Head: alliance Summit decisions expression of NATO’s “strong political support” for Georgia

Alexander Vinnikov, the Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, on Tuesday said that the decisions made at the Madrid Summit attended by the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili were an expression of NATO’s “strong political support” for Georgia.

Vinnikov noted alliance leaders had agreed to deepen relationships with some of NATO’s closest partners, among them Georgia, with the Strategic Concept endorsed at the event “intertwining” the security of aspirant countries like Georgia with the security of allies.

The official also said the Strategic Concept also “reconfirmed” NATO’s commitment to its open-door policy and the decisions taken at its previous summits.

“The allies endorsed [...] the tailored support measures for Georgia, [the latter] being one of NATO’s partners most directly affected by external threats and the interference in the current security environment resulting from Russia’s unprovoked war in Ukraine”, Vinnikov noted.

“These tailored support measures are the expression of NATO’s strong political support for Georgia, its sovereignty and territorial integrity and NATO’s commitment to the Bucharest Summit decisions on Georgia’s eventual membership”, the Head of the Liaison Office added.

Vinnikov highlighted the measures in the support package, designed to step up the bloc’s political and practical support for Georgia. He said the new package was designed to “build the country's capabilities and strengthen its resilience”, and added the specific elements included Georgia’s increasing participation in NATO’s cybersecurity exercises, strengthening security communications, and helping to develop the country’s critical infrastructure.

“We will continue to work on the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, which remains the main framework for our practical support for Georgia, including the issues of air defence, intelligence, crisis management and cyber defence”, the alliance representative pledged.

“We will also be looking at adding a couple of new areas to the package. We will increase the frequency of our exercises and try to conduct them in two years instead of three. We will also see further synergies with other international organisations delivering support to Georgia, including the European Union”, Vinnikov said.