BAKU, Azerbaijan, Sept.20
Tamilla Mammadova – Trend:
The Substantial NATO-Georgia Package adopted in November 2020 envisages even more ambitious cooperation, an unnamed NATO official told Trend.
The package entails key priorities such as: Implementation of the secure communications project; Continued support of the Joint Training and Evaluation Center, which has recently received several vehicles for training purposes; a NATO-Georgia exercise in 2022; and enhanced cooperation on maritime issues and situational awareness.
"We stand by our commitments from the 2008 Bucharest Summit and subsequent Summits on Georgia’s aspirations towards NATO membership. Allies have agreed to strengthen the NATO-Georgia partnership even further," said the official.
This includes sharing more air traffic radar data, and working jointly to address hybrid threats.
"We are also enhancing our engagement with Georgia on security in the Black Sea region," said the official.
Relations between NATO and Georgia dating 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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