North Atlantic Council to visit Georgia in October
By Tea Mariamidze
Thursday, May 30
The North Atlantic Council, the principal political decision-making body of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization which consists of Permanent Representatives from its member countries, will visit Georgia in October.
NATO Secretary General's Special Representative to the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai confirmed the information to Imedi TV.
This will be the fifth visit of the North Atlantic Council to Georgia. The organization says that the planned visit once again indicates close cooperation between NATO and Georgia on unprecedented dynamics of relations.
Meanwhile, Georgia expects new statements, decisions, and messages from the North Atlantic Council in October.
"The visit of the North Atlantic Council to Georgia is crucial for us. We are actively working with the Ambassador of Georgia to have concrete results for the visit of the Council. Now the most important is the security of the Black Sea," Appathurai said.
He added that according to decisions made recently at the Foreign Ministers' meeting, NATO declares its readiness to deepen relations with Georgia on the Black Sea security issues.
"This includes many elements. NATO will help Georgia to have a better picture of what is happening in the airspace in-depth, and NATO and Georgia will have more frequent contact to study the situation on the Black Sea better; joint exercises are also planned. The visit of the North Atlantic Council is of great importance," he said.
According to Appathurai, the visit of the Council is the part of the 2019 agenda of NATO, and it means more NATO in Georgia.
"The visit of the North Atlantic Council is proof of this and confirms active cooperation. Also, this is a signal that we are maximally involved, and on the other hand, we are ready to make decisions that will further deepen this relationship. This visit is important as a symbolic and practical point of view," he added.
Furthermore, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative said it would be five years after the NATO-Georgia merit package was adopted in September. In this regard, NATO will discuss the possibility of expanding the NATO-Georgia Joint Training Center in Tbilisi.
"Part of this package elements have been very successful; some elements are now implemented. Now we think about what will we do next. The Joint Training Center is successfully functioning. We think about expanding it and adding new features to it," he noted.
Appathurai said the decision regarding this and other issues would be made after the visit of the North Atlantic Council visit to Georgia.
Shortly after Georgia regained independence in 1991, relations with NATO started in 1992, when the country joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. This forum for dialogue was succeeded in 1997 by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, which brings together all Allies and partner countries in the Euro-Atlantic area.
At the Wales Summit in September 2014, a substantial package of measures was launched to strengthen Georgia's ability to defend itself and advance its preparations for membership.
Further steps to help strengthen defense capabilities were taken at the NATO Summits in Warsaw in 2016 and Brussels in 2018.
