Defense Minister Meets NATO Special Rep. for the Caucasus, Central Asia
Juansher Burchuladze, the Minister of Defense, met with Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary-General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus & Central Asia, on 27 September.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the parties discussed the security environment and challenges in the region, while focusing on the importance of increasing NATO’s involvement in strengthening the security of the Black Sea region against the background of the current situation.
“They discussed the importance of the Alliance’s support tailored to Georgia’s needs, which, in light of the growing security challenges in the region, acquires special importance in terms of strengthening the country’s defense capability, stability, and compatibility with NATO,” the Ministry underscored.
In that context, the two highlighted the successful role of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. They also reviewed reforms implemented in the defense system and discussed priority areas and plans for future cooperation.
NATO’s support for Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity, and Euro-Atlantic aspirations were reiterated during the meeting.
Comments Following the Meeting
Minister Burchuladze disclosed after the meeting that he discussed Georgia’s successes with Special Representative Colomina.
“We talked about the success of the exercises that were held in Georgia recently… We also planned future [relations]… NATO offers unconditional support to Georgia,” he said and added that Georgia will attend the NATO Summit in Brussels.
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For his part, Special Representative Colomina underscored that NATO was “extremely satisfied with the level of cooperation we have with Georgian armed forces.”
In that context, Special Representative Colomina highlighted the importance of the decision made in regards to Georgia at the recent NATO Madrid Summit, which he said will help the country’s defense forces modernize Soviet-era equipment.
At the same time, the NATO representative denoted that they are working on the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package to update it within the common months.
He underscored that Georgia is a very “valued” partner for NATO, which values.
“We value very much the professionalism of its armed forces, the level of interoperability, and one of the examples of this is that we have actually been able to have exercises with Georgia last time at the end of March,” Special Representative Colomina underscored. “In general, we will continue with this excellent level of cooperation.”
Also Read:
- 24/03/2022 – Stoltenberg Delivers Video Address to NATO-Georgia Exercise
- 24/03/2022 – Georgian Leaders Address NATO-Georgia Exercise 2022
This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)
