Georgia, Tbilisi, October 24/ Trend N.Kirtzkhalia /
A meeting was held at the North Atlantic Council, NATO headquarters, Brussels with the defence ministers of NATO member countries and non-NATO ISAF Contributing Nations.
The meeting was attended by the Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Alasania.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen opened the meeting. He emphasised the transfer of responsibility for security across Afghanistan to national forces.
"By now the transfer of security responsibility to local forces goes as planned. Stability in Afghanistan remains relevant for us. Today we are planning how the new NATO mission should be and what kind of assistance we will provide to Afghan security forces after 2014," Rasmussen said.
As the Georgian Defence Ministry told Trend on Wednesday, the Defence Minister Irakli Alasania spoke at the meeting. He reiterated the decision of the Georgian Government on the continuation by the Georgian contingent of its mission in Afghanistan beyond 2014.
"At the meeting with the defence ministers, our delegation reiterated Georgia's readiness to participate in the future NATO operation. We introduced our counterparts to our vision on Georgia's participation in the operation to support Afghanistan.
"We also had a bilateral meeting with our partners and discussed progress in the Georgian armed forces and reforms. This is necessary for further rapprochement with NATO. Our troops, our representatives perform their duties professionally. This is seen by everyone. Georgia is looked upon as a strong and a good partner.
"For now the main thing is that our country should politically and economically be prepared for membership in NATO and when there is a historic opportunity, we will become a member. This is a time factor. In fact, NATO has already taken this decision," Alasania said.