Annual Report for Defence Attaches
Thursday, December 19
The Defence Minister of Georgia presented the annual report on the fulfilled and ongoing reforms within the Defence Ministry and Armed Forces to the military attaches accredited to Georgia. At the beginning of the meeting, the Defence Minister expressed gratitude to the military representatives of foreign countries for their firm cooperation and involvement in the reformation process.
The minister summarized the projects at the MoD and emphasized the priorities of the defence ministry. As Irakli Alasania outlined, one of the priorities refers to improvement of transparency and accountability. In this respect, the MoD has taken important proactive transformative steps, such as strengthening parliamentary control; enhancing cooperation with local and international NGOs, and the MoD joined the NATO Building Integrity initiative. The minister also touched upon financial transparency. He highlighted that the state procurement system has improved, and as a result, the number of open tenders has increased to 70%.
Improvement of infrastructure and logistics were one of the main issues of the report as well.
While summarizing the reforms carried out in 2013, Irakli Alasania focused on the main directions of cooperation with Euro-Atlantic structures:
“Our directions refer to the integration process with NATO and the EU; Georgia’s engagement to EU crisis management operations and NATO-led ISAF international operation in Afghanistan. We also talked about structural reforms and the assistance Georgia institutionally receives from NATO.” The Post-ISAF period and future cooperation plans in Afghanistan were also discussed at the meeting with military attaches.
While reporting, the Defence Minister referred to regional security issues, strategic cooperation with neighboring countries, Georgia’s participation in the SEDM initiative, as well as conflict resolution by peaceful means. The minister focused on Georgia’s role in the region.
“We are becoming an example for the regional countries on how to manage the defence structure properly, democratically and transparently.”
Chief of the General Staff of the GAF, Major-General Vakhtang Kapanadze, reported to the military attaches on the reforms carried out within the Georgian Armed Forces. He outlined several important aspects, including military education and training, the improvement of infrastructure on the military bases, social projects for military servicemen and their family members and personnel management.
Major-General Vakhtang Kapanadze highlighted Georgia’s involvement in the post-ISAF period and joining NRF.
“During the meeting with the military attaches, we always discuss the work [we have done] and the issues we have already resolved or that need to be resolved. Firm cooperation with military attaches is very important for the further improvement of the Georgian Armed Forces,” stated Major-General Vakhtang Kapanadze.
At the end of the report, the defence attaches thanked the Georgia side for cooperation and expressed their will to deepen relations in the future.
