Tbilisi, Georgia, Jan. 20
By Nana Kirtzkhalia - Trend:
A delegation of U.S. congressional representatives is on an official visit to Georgia.
Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania and his deputy Mikheil Darchiashvili have received the advisory group of the military committee of the House of Representatives and Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on Jan.20.
During the meeting the minister thanked the representatives of the foreign relations committee for cooperation and support, the ministry told Trend. Alasania pointed out that the resolution worked out by the Senate contributed to Georgia's accession to Euro-Atlantic structures.
The meetings started with the discussion of the progress in Georgia made in terms of democracy. One of the main topics of discussions was the regional security issue.
The parties also touched upon the foreign priorities of Georgia. The minister stressed that the accession to NATO has a great significance for Georgia's foreign policy and security policy.
Alasania talked about the progress achieved in the country's armed forces and the significance of the NATO summit of 2014. The discussions touched upon the ISAF operation, Georgian inclusion in NATO's support mission in 2014 and participation in the alliance's response force in 2015.
During the meeting, special attention was paid to the issues of bilateral relations between the U.S. and Georgia in the military sphere. Alasania said that the U.S. support has a great significance for the development of Georgian armed forces defense potential.
Alasania stressed that a fruitful visit to Washington took place in August 2013 during which the attention was paid to the progress achieved in the deepening of military cooperation, as well as the new fields of cooperation.
"Today's meetings with the congressional representatives are very important. Almost all aspects of bilateral relations, especially, the role of the U.S. in increasing our defensibility, concrete decisions that will allow Georgia to have an army that will have a deterrent function were discussed. Moreover, our accession to NATO, the alliance's summit in which the U.S. undoubtedly support Georgia's accession were discussed," Alasania stated.
The delegation members also visited Krtsanisi National Training Center.
Translated by L.Z.
Edited by C.N.