Alasania in France
Thursday, October 30
In the framework of his visit to France, Minister of Defence of Georgia Irakli Alasania was hosted by his French counterpart Jean-Yves Le Drian.
At the meeting, the two Defence Ministers discussed the prospects of deepening bilateral cooperation in the military field. Georgia’s prospects for NATO membership were discussed at the meeting as well. During the talks colleagues underlined significance of the outcomes of NATO Summit in Wales.
Jean-Yves Le Drian reiterated France`s support to Georgia`s Euro-Atlantic aspirations. French Minister of Defence thanked the Georgian side for its participation in the peacekeeping operation ongoing in the Central African Republic under the auspices of EU. The sides also touched upon the regional security issues.
After the meeting, along with the defence minister, he underscored the importance of bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
“Military cooperation between Georgia and France is deepening day by day. At the meeting with Mr. Le Drian we talked about our joint ongoing operation in the Republic of Central Africa and outlined how we are providing security with our joint efforts under the aegis of this operation. We also referred to military and military-technical cooperation between Georgia and France. We discussed the ways how France would assist Georgia to increase our defence capabilities and how our partner country would support Georgia to enhance interoperability that is necessary precondition for NATO membership. We agreed that it is important to continue high-profile bilateral meetings and bring Franco-Georgian relationships to the strategic level,” stated Irakli Alasania.
In the framework of the visit, Irakli Alasania attended the 31st International Workshop on Global Security. This year, the 31st conference was held in France hosted by Minister of Defence of France Jean-Yves Le Drian. The main themes of the forum were new global security challenges that have became actual in the aftermath of the Russian aggression carried out in Crimea as well as cyber security issues.
The first panel of the Conference was dedicated to the crises developed in Crimea and eastern Ukraine as a result of the Russian aggression. When delivering speech, Minister Alasania focused on the topic “Securing Europe from Russian Military Adventures”. Georgian Minister of Defence highlighted security challenges faced by Georgia. He also discussed the evolving security environment, the threat Russian aggression poses to the security architecture and the lessons Georgia could learn from 2008 Russian-Georgia war.
The organizers of the Workshop are IHEDN of France and Centre for Strategic Decision Research (CSDR). NATO member and partner countries` defence ministers, government leaders, top military officials, experts on defence and security issues, the representatives of academic and industrial spheres took part in the workshop.
