NATO's 4 steps in support of Georgia
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, May 7
The President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili talked to the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg by phone this week. During the conversation, the difficult situation created by the pandemic was discussed and, as the president's press service reports, the Secretary General of NATO gave the highest assessment to the strong efforts made by the Georgian government regarding the virus and called it effective.
According to Stoltenberg, the virus-induced crisis should not become a security crisis. Zurabishvili expressed hope that due to the pandemic, despite the postponement of part of the large-scale NATO exercises in Europe, it will be held next year and, as planned, Georgia will host it, which is an indicator of close partnership and cooperation.
Zurabishvili said, Georgia is cooperating with NATO on 2 main priorities - Black Sea security, which is important not only for Georgia, but also for NATO and the EU, and cyber security.
According to Stoltenberg, for the security of the Black Sea, the parties should share more information with each other and, after the end of the Coronavirus pandemic, should implement more plans. The NATO Secretary General stressed the importance of NATO-Georgia cooperation in Afghanistan, praised the cooperation and called the participation of Georgian troops in the mission impressive and strong.
"NATO will continue to provide political and practical support to its valuable partner, Georgia, as well as our joint fight against Cody-19” Stoltenberg wrote on Twitter after meeting.
The President of Georgia noted that the meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission should be held at the level of ministers.
NATO will hand over a new package of support to Georgia. The decision has already been made at the level of the foreign ministers of the alliance. Special Representative of the Secretary-General of NATO for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai explained what the package includes and how NATO helps Georgia during a pandemic in an interview with Georgian public broadcaster.
According to Apparthurai there are two reasons for the political decision to transfer the new support package, first being the best and exemplary bilateral relations between NATO and Georgia, as part of a non-NATO member group, that alliance wants to deepen. The second reason is the deteriorated security situation in the Black Sea region, which is caused by Russia’s aggressive actions in Georgia, Ukraine and the Crimean peninsula and has worsened for NATO members as well, since Russia has used Crimea to increase its military presence in the Black Sea.
Special NATO sec.general rep. Also announced about future steps, which will mean more involvement in ‘hybrid defense’ activities for Georgia and strengthened cooperation, which concerns cyber-attacks or misinformation, energy blockade, disguised intelligence or military activity. Another step will be involving Georgia in an ‘airspace security program,’ that will give the country the better idea of what is happening in its airspace.
Apparthurai said, another component of the new package is the greater involvement of Georgians and Ukrainians in joint exercises. “Especially because the Georgian Defense Institution Building School and the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center are working very well,” he explained, adding that NATO members are also considering Georgia’s greater involvement in military exercises, including in the region.
As for the pandemic, which is the number 1 topic in the NATO headquarters, he mentioned the steps the alliance has already taken and is still taking, such as the transportation of medical supplies by NATO, the assistance of NATO in the arrangement of field hospitals. Apparthurai talked about Euro-Atlantic Emergency Response Coordination Center which operates 24 hours throughout the Euro-Atlantic area and is designed not only for NATO members but also for partners, coordinating the requirements of the allies and partners who seek and offer support.
In April, Georgia sent a request for support to the NATO headquarters, and Poland expressed a desire to help. Poland has sent disinfection and heating equipment to the Georgian Emergency Situations Service. According to Apparthurai, NATO is aware that there is still a demand from Georgia and is working on this issue to see if it is possible to connect donors and those who want to help. “NATO is already helping Georgia and we will try to do more”, he said.
When asked whether the pandemic has affected NATO's and Georgian joint exercises, he replied that the main function of alliance - protecting its territories and conducting operations is taken care of; alliance makes sure, that operational readiness including in Afghanistan, ‘where Georgia is by our side and we are grateful for that,’ is fully secured.
As for military exercises, in the last few months the scale of NATO exercises has been reduced in order to ensure safety standards to protect armed forces and that the NATO military does not endanger the local population. He said, isn't clear so far when the alliance will be able to fully implement the exercise plan, but as soon as that happens, this program will definitely include joint NATO-Georgia exercises.
The Special Representative of the Secretary-General of NATO for the Caucasus and Central Asia also commented on the challenge of misinformation that has been caused by the pandemic. He said that it’s mainly coming from Russia and China, attempting to blame everything on the West and trying to show their inability to protect the safety and health of citizens.
According to him the campaign was very surprising and the NATO press service and allied countries are responding strongly to this campaign. As an example of disinformation campaign he recalled the fake letter matter, which was sent to Lithuania stating that NATO troops are leaving Lithuania, which, though skillfully complied, didn;t work.
Apparthurai says Georgia and NATO have been cooperating on this issue for years and ‘we are increasing the opportunities to fight misinformation, and it will continue to do so’. NATO has a Strategic Communication Center in Latvia and Georgia is cooperating with this center and hopefully the consultations on this matter will be held with Georgia soon.
He also touched upon the situation in the territories occupied by Russia, saying the situation was already bad, but the worst is when people's health is in danger.
“We are witnessing borderization activities carried out by Russia and its puppets in recent weeks. Anything that contradicts Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders is unacceptable,” NATO representative stated, adding that the alliance continues to put pressure on Russia over the issue.
