BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) stands by its commitments from the 2008 Bucharest Summit and subsequent Summits on Georgia’s aspirations towards NATO membership, the NATO told Trend.
According to the source, NATO’s partnership with Georgia remains strong and close, and this is reflected in the visits by Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and President Salome Zourabichvili to NATO Headquarters earlier this year.
"Despite the challenges posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, we have maintained a substantial level of political dialogue with Georgia – including through the NATO-Georgia Commission," the NATO said.
The Georgian government has clearly stated that integration into NATO continues to be a top foreign policy and security objective for the country, and NATO Allies have extended Georgia’s status as Enhanced Opportunity Partner for another three years, the NATO added.
"We also maintain a strong level of practical cooperation, including with support from our NATO Liaison Office in Tbilisi and through the activities of our Joint Training and Evaluation Center," said the source.
Relations between NATO and Georgia date back to 1992 when Georgia joined the North-Atlantic Cooperation Council (NACC). The latter was replaced by the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) in 1997 as a forum for discussions between NATO and partners.
In 1994, Georgia joined the NATO Partnership for Peace (PfP) program and since 1996, the country has been actively participating in training and exercises within program.
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