Georgia, Tbilisi, June 5 / Trend N. Kirtzkhalia /
The U.S. continues assisting Georgia in security and defense and supporting its accession to NATO, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said at the opening of the Georgian-American Strategic Cooperation Commission in Batumi today.
She said Georgia is a strategic partner for regional and global security.
"Georgia is making its contribution to the world security by participating in NATO operations in Afghanistan, which will soon become the first contributor among the countries that are not members of the alliance," she said. "We welcome and appreciate this."
Clinton stressed that Georgia's defense capability increases and its compliance with NATO standards is ensured within the agreement between the U.S and Georgian presidents in the U.S.
"We are continuing the policy of training and equipping the Georgian army, which participates in operations in Afghanistan," she said. "We raise Georgia's defensive capacity."
U.S. Secretary of State reiterated that the U.S. supports Georgia's integration into NATO and loyal to a decision of the summit in Bucharest. It was recognized that Georgia will join NATO.
Prime Minister Nika Gilauri said that Georgia will continue moving toward integration into NATO and participating in ensuring global security. He emphasized the priority of the strategic relations between Georgia and the U.S. He stressed that the increase in
defensive capacity is an extremely important issue for Georgia.