Meeting with Defence Attaches
Thursday, March 12
Defence Attaches of foreign countries accredited to Georgia received information about the transformation process of the Military Police of the Georgian Armed Forces. Chief of the Military Police Department LTC Levan Gabunia, presented the reorganization plan of the unit to the diplomatic corps at the meeting held at the Defence Ministry. First Deputy Defence Minister Gocha Ratiani and Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Major-General Vakhtang Kapanadze attended the meeting.
According to Gabunia, the transformation process is aimed at achieving NATO interoperability and is based on the experience of the alliance member countries. The structural changes envisage the establishment of an integrated unit compatible with the structure of the GAF. Two combat battalions of the Military Police will be created to implement the tactical tasks the Georgian Armed Forces face. Their mission will be the participation in the full spectrum of military operations and involvement in NATO Military Police multinational battalions. Along with the law-enforcement activities, new functions will be added to the unit, including the implementation and support of maneuver and mobility operations, securing the area of operations and rear operations during peacetime, wartime and crisis.
The chief of the MP underlined that the optimization process does not mean a reduction in staff. The battalions will be manned in full compliance with the existing requirements of the Georgian Armed Forces. All military police who meet the established criteria will continue their service in the unit. In the future, the Military Police will pay attention to raising the qualification of its officers.
The presentation was followed by a question and answer session. Georgia’s international partners expressed their readiness to provide expert assistance to the Military Police Department in the transformation process.
The transformation process is based on the recommendation and implementation plan of the Substantial Package, and considers the experience of Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Czech Republic, and the US. It is also based on the recommendations of the Strategic Defence Review 2013-2016, which suggests the revision of structure and analysis of existing capabilities. Reorganization of the MP Department is also defined in the 55th article of the 2014 National Action Plan of the Georgia-EU Association Agreement.
