Colomina: all NATO instruments are at your disposal, some of them valid only for Georgia
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Thursday, April 28, 2022
Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia is paying official visit to Tbilisi. On April 27 he held meetings with Speker of the Parliament of Georgia Shalva Papuashvili, members of Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Security as well as Prime Minister of Georgia, Irakli Gharibashvili.
The process of Georgia's NATO integration and the security challenges in the region were the main topics of discussion between the Gharibashvili and Colomina. According to the press service of the PM, Georgia has made significant progress on the path to membership in the Alliance and focused on the reforms that the country is successfully implementing.
NATO's important role in strengthening overall Euro-Atlantic security and stability was noted. Also, attention was paid to the upcoming Madrid summit. During the meeting, the sides discussed the challenges in the occupied territories of Georgia and the difficult humanitarian situation.
Javier Colomina reaffirmed the Alliance's strong support for Georgia's territorial integrity and sovereignty. The meeting also focused on security challenges created in the region as a result of the war in Ukraine. The PM reiterated Georgia's solidarity with Ukraine, its humanitarian assistance and its support, both politically and diplomatically, including in international formats.
The Prime Minister stressed the crucial role of the international community and the need for effective steps to end the war as soon as possible. The meeting also focused on the importance of Black Sea security and the role of NATO-Georgia cooperation in this direction.
After the meeting with the Speaker of the Parliament and then in the Committee on Defense and Security Colomina said that NATO highly values Georgia as a partner.
“NATO-Georgia has very good relations. We highly value Georgia as a partner. We have excellent practical cooperation. At your disposal are all the NATO tools we have. We must also emphasize that some tools are unique and work only for Georgia,” Colomina said .
According to him, NATO will provide Georgia with the specific tools it deserves due to its high level of trust.
“It has been decided to activate these tools in the past years and now we are in the process of providing Georgia with the specific tools it deserves, given the degree of trust that exists between NATO and you, the country. We talked about this issue. We also talked about the political dialogue we have.”
He also emphasizied that the war in Ukraine is a dramatic and tectonic change for everyone and NATO's response is to strengthen support and cooperation with all partners, ‘ especially those partners who we believe may be most affected by the threat posed by Russia’. According to him, most of the discussions in Tbilisi, and prior to that in Yerevan and in Baku, focus on the Russian war in Ukraine.
“We are now in the process of leading to the Madrid Summit, which will be held in late June. Decisions will be made to increase support, which will be tied to the needs of Georgia,” Colomina said.
