2021-10-20
Today, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili held a meeting with Javier Colomina, the NATO Secretary General's newly appointed Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia.
During the meeting, the Prime Minister congratulated Colomina on his appointment and expressed confidence that his tenure will mark NATO-Georgia relations deepening even further and concrete steps toward Georgia's Euro-Atlantic integration.
The conversation focused on NATO's open-door policy and Georgia's integration into the North Atlantic Alliance, pointing out the country's formidable progress toward European and Euro-Atlantic integration, strengthening democratic institutions, and implementing defense reforms.
The meeting paid special attention to the upcoming 2022 NATO Summit, underlining it as an excellent opportunity for duly assessing Georgia's progress, further to encourage the country's advancement on the path toward Euro-Atlantic integration.
The meeting discussed cooperation on Black Sea security, with emphasis on Georgia's considerable contribution to ensuring Euro-Atlantic peace and security. The parties underscored Georgia's role in in international peace missions, namely the ISAF operations in Afghanistan and the process of evacuation from Afghanistan after the completion of the Resolute Support Mission. Georgia remains committed to the common principles and values of security, ready to continue participating in the Allies' efforts to secure global peace and security.
The parties singled out the implementation of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, the key mechanism of NATO's practical support for Georgia, as the Georgian Government's top priority.
The meeting also touched on the importance of joint NATO-Georgia exercises, underlining that joint efforts have resulted in modernizing and developing relevant training infrastructure meeting NATO standards. Consequently, Georgia is ready to offer the Allies a high-standard setting for large-scale drills.
The meeting was attended by Head NATO International Office's Political Affairs and Security Division Steffen Elgersma, Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia Rosaria Puglisi, Deputy Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia Pirit Pikker, and Vice Prime Minister/Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani representing the Georgian side.
Press Service of the Government Administration