NATO Military Committee is paying an official two-day visit to Georgia. Chairman of MC, General Petr Pavel is leading the senior NATO Military Representatives. Chief of the General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia greeted the NATO delegation in Tbilisi International Airport.
“NATO Military Committee led by General Petr Pavel has arrived in Georgia on an official visit. The Committee consists of 28 senior NATO Military Representatives, accompanied by the Montenegrin Military Representative. In the frames of the visit, the Committee session will be held. The high-level meetings will be led with President, Prime Minister and Defence Minister. Intensification of NATO-Georgia cooperation and enhancement of Georgia`s defence capabilities as well as Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, military exercises, military education and Georgia`s participation in international missions will be highlighted during the meeting. This visit is a clear demonstration of a close NATO-Georgia partnership. Georgia has already appealed to the NATO headquarters to get information about the form of Georgia`s involvement in Black Sea security affairs. In this case, a particular importance is attached to the role of ministries of Defence and Interval Affairs” stated Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia.
General Petr Pavel thanked the Georgian government for the invitation and focused on NATO-Georgia, relationship: “let me thank the Georgian authorities for inviting Military Committee to Georgia. I would also like to point out that in NATO-Georgian relationship there is a great dynamics. Last month, just weeks ago Minister of Defence was in Brussels during NATO-Georgia Commission. Now Military Committee has special session in Georgia and I believe that all these events clearly demonstrate that NATO is committed to partnership with Georgia, interested in progress Georgia is making, building its armed forces and military capabilities and also interoperability with NATO. So all these events are important for both NATO and Georgia.
We believe that security situation deserves discussion at regional level and of course Georgia is one of literal countries of Black Sea. It has tremendous experience and expertise we can draw on it and I believe that it will be also part of our discussion. Georgia is definitely a player and can contribute to the overall regional security.”
First Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the GAF COL Nikoloz Janjgava, Military Representative of Georgia to NATO Major General Vakhtang Kapanadze, Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia William Lahue and the Head of Georgian Mission in the Alliance Aleksandre Maisuradze attended the official welcome ceremony.
“This is highly symbolic visit, because it is another demonstration of the support of the allies to Georgia providing the opportunity to discuss current security issues with Georgia, Georgia’s concerns and talk about practical implementation of NATO- Georgia relationship from a military perspective, support to Joint Training and Evaluation Centre, Institution Building Centre, Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. I am sure that Black Sea component will be part of the discussion”, underlined William Lahue.
NATO Military Committee is visiting Georgia for the second time. NATO Military Committee’s visit to Georgia is a strong message from the Alliance who continues to support Georgia’s integration and its efforts towards membership to NATO. It is also another demonstration of NATO-Georgia intensive and successful cooperation. This visit is a unique opportunity to discuss military issues, progress in GAF’s transformation, get first hand impression on the ground and further NATO-Georgia relations at the highest level.
The members of the NATO delegation will go to Ministry of Defence of Georgia from Tbilisi International Airport, where Chairman and the NATO Military Committee representatives will meet Minister of Defence. After an extended meeting, General Petr Pavel and Levan Izoria will hold the press-conference for media representatives.
At the end of the day, NATO Military Representatives will also visit NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) to attend pre-deployment training of the Georgian military unit to “Resolute Support” mission in Afghanistan.
On the second day of the visit, the Military Committee in Permanent Session Meeting with the participation of Georgia will officially open in the hotel “Radisson Blue Iveria”. Security situation in Georgia and in the region, Georgia`s engagement in the context of Black Sea security, occupied territories, defence reforms and optimization in the GAF and as well as NATO-Georgia military cooperation issues will be discussed during the session.
After the Military Committee Session, the delegation members will participate in wreath laying ceremonies to pay their respects to those who have paid the ultimate price defending peace and freedom.
Within the framework of the two-day long visit to Georgia, Chairman of NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel will hold meetings with President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili and Prime-Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili.
At the end of the two-day visit in Georgia, the delegation members will visit Davit Agmashenebeli National Defence Academy.
The Military Committee is the senior military authority in NATO and the oldest permanent body in NATO after the North Atlantic Council. It is the primary source of military advice to NATO’s civilian decision-making bodies – the North Atlantic Council and the Nuclear Planning Group.
Prior to the visit of NATO Military Committee, several high-level events were conducted in Georgia including North-Atlantic Council visit in September and the second NATO-Georgia successful training in October. Besides that, NATO-Georgia Commission Session was recently held within the Defence Ministerial where ministers talked about the regional security situation and enhanced Black Sea security efforts. Besides that Georgia will host NATO Parliamentary Assembly in May of 2017.