Georgia’s progress to be recognised in Warsaw
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Thursday, May 26
Georgia’s Prime Minister, Giorgi Kvirikashvili, hopes the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) will recognise Georgia’s “significant progress” at the upcoming Alliance’s summit in Warsaw, Poland, scheduled for July 8-9.
The PM stated this before up to 300 guests gathered in Georgia’s capital Tbilisi on May 24-25 to attend the 10th Defence and Security Conference (GDSC), discussing security challenges to Georgia and the world at large.
“We hope the Alliance will recognise Georgia’s significant progress. Taking the region’s security challenges into account, as well as the role Georgia can play in establishing stability we are waiting for concrete steps from NATO that will more empower our defence capabilities,” Kvirikashvili said.
The PM believed the Warsaw Summit would be focused on NATO’s strategies to boost the security of its eastern regions.
Kvirikashvili said that in this context, Georgia could play an important role.
The PM highlighted that Georgia has done much to further integrate into the Euro-Atlantic sphere, but Georgia’s efforts alone will not be sufficient to guarantee membership in the EU and NATO.
Kvirikashvili appealed to the international community to enhance their support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
At the GDSC opening ceremony, a speech was also delivered by the Vice-President of the United States’ Atlantic Council Damon Wilson, who said he believed that Georgia would achieve its Euro-Atlantic goals and become the member of NATO and the European Union (EU).
“To achieve the goals, Georgia should maintain its irreversible European choice and the international community should also support the country on its Euro-Atlantic path,” Wilson said.
“During 25 years of independence, Georgians proved they are excellent and reliable partners in a region full of challenges,” the US official added.
Wilson also spoke about Russia’s policies in his speech and stressed that the country “forcibly changed borders to achieve its political aims”.
