Meeting with NGO Representatives
Thursday, April 2
The meeting with the representatives of non-governmental organizations was held at IV Mechanized Brigade of the Georgian Armed Forces. Chief of General Staff of the GAF Major General Vakhtang Kapanadze met with civil society members.
National Guard Commander Brigadier General Levan Gamkhrelidze, Chief of the J-3 Operational Planning Department Brigadier General Giorgi Surmava, Training and Military Education Commander COL Levan Beraia and other military top officials attended the meeting.
Chief of Defence focused on the ongoing implementation of the NATO Substantial Package granted to Georgia at the Wales Summit. Major-General underlined the NATO-Georgia cooperation format, operational capabilities of the GAF and NATO interoperability. Attention was also attributed to the Georgian troops` contribution to the NATO and EU-led operations. During the meeting with civil sector representatives, Chief of Defence stressed significance of GAF transformation and defence transparency, as well as the need of intensifying interaction and planning joint events with the public.
The meeting went on in an interactive format. The high-ranking military officials listened to the NGO`s recommendations and expressed readiness to deepen cooperation in this direction.
Major-General Vakhtang Kapanadze evaluated the outcomes of the meeting with media representatives: “The meeting was held in a question -and -answer format. We have briefed the NGO representatives on the current cooperation with NATO and focused on the ongoing defence reforms.”
According to the NGO representatives, these measures promote development of military-civil relationship which will have a positive influence on the development of democratic institutions in the country. “The developments ongoing in the GAF enjoy a great interest among the members of the society. It is notable that we have received the information regarding ongoing defence reforms just from the military”, outlined Head of the Association of Military Journalists Giorgi Tskhvitava.
Following the meeting the NGO representatives had dinner in the Brigade canteen.
One of the priorities of the MoD is transparency. To this end the Ministry is actively cooperating with the NGO representatives and holds regular meetings with them. An active cooperation with civil society promotes effective implementation of the transformation process and the reforms.
