Meeting with NATO Secretary General

Within the working visit to NATO HQ, Defence Minister of Georgia Tinatin Khidasheli held her first meeting as a Minister with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. At the meeting, the sides discussed NATO-Georgia cooperation and the elements of the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package Georgia which was granted at the NATO Wales Summit.

The upcoming NATO Summit 2016 in Warsaw was the main topic of the discussion. Georgia will request the Membership Action Plan at the upcoming Warsaw Summit – this issue is on the top of agenda at Defence Minister’s meetings with NATO leaders and partners. “The Warsaw Summit will be the main topic of any meetings I hold till July 9. Our position is fixed - we request Georgia to move to a new stage in relations with NATO,” stated Tinatin Khidasheli.

The establishment of the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center was focused on at the meeting with Jens Stoltenberg. As the Defence Minister stated, the decision on the location of JTEC has already been taken and Georgia is awaiting final decision from the Alliance: “Today we were reminded that Georgia is ready to start the implementation of the project. The Secretary General promised us to visit Georgia this year. This could be symbolically coincided with the opening of the Center. As we don’t know the exact time, this is just a plan for now.”