The report of NATO Secretary General - Georgia is one of the most significant partners.

პოლიტიკა - 15:15, 14 Mar, 2017

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The report of NATO Secretary General was published on March 13, 2017 referring to the Alliance’s activity through last year.

According to the report, Georgia is a NATO-aspirant country as well as one of its most important partners, contributing greatly to the NATO Resolute Support Mission.

‘NATO’s Open Door Policy is a founding principle of the Washington Treaty and one of the Alliance’s great successes. Since its founding in 1949, NATO has grown from 12 members to 28. NATO’s door is open to all European democracies that share the values of the Alliance, are willing and able to assume the responsibilities and obligations of membership, are in a position to further the principles of the Treaty, and whose inclusion can contribute to the security of the North Atlantic area.

In December 2015 Montenegro was invited to begin accession talks to join NATO. These talks were completed in spring 2016, and Allies signed the Accession Protocol on 19 May 2016. Montenegro is being integrated into NATO activities, and is participating in the work of most NATO committees, including the North Atlantic Council. Once all Allied governments have ratified the Accession Protocol, which is expected to be completed in 2017, Montenegro can accede to the Washington Treaty, becoming a full member of NATO. Montenegro’s membership will enhance the security of the Western Balkans region, an area of key importance to the Alliance. The invitation to Montenegro is a clear sign that NATO’s door remains open to those countries that want to join and that meet the criteria of membership. Work continues with other countries that aspire to join the Alliance – Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia5 – to help them prepare for NATO membership. NATO has a strong programme of cooperation with each aspiring member state to help it carry out the reforms necessary for membership,’ the report reads.

According to the report, ‘defence capacity building for Georgia is provided through the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. The package includes the establishment of a Joint Training and Evaluation Centre, a Defence Institution Building School, and a Logistics Facility. It also provides expert advice in the areas of acquisition, strategic and operational plans, Special Operations Forces, military police, cyber defence, maritime security, aviation, air defence and strategic communications. The package also covers support and contributions to NATO exercises in Georgia, which are open to partners. At the Warsaw Summit in 2016, NATO leaders agreed on additional practical ways to intensify capacity-building support to Georgia, including through support to Georgia’s crisis management capabilities.’

The Partnership Interoperability Initiative also offers specific partners enhanced opportunities for deeper cooperation. Five partners (Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden) currently have access to enhanced cooperation, which includes tailored consultation on security matters and close participation in exercises. All five Enhanced Opportunities Partners participated at the NATO Summit in Warsaw, - the report reads.

The document also emphasizes Georgia’s significant contribution to providing international security saying Georgia is the biggest contributor among the non-member countries, having 870 military servicemen involved in the mission.

Since 2014, we have had to adapt again. Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, and destabilisation of Eastern Ukraine, as well as ISIL’s seizure of Mosul, marked in very different ways the start of a new era. So today, the Alliance must engage in both collective defence and crisis management at the same time. Allies have implemented the largest reinforcement of our collective defence since the Cold War. In the last two years, NATO’s deterrence and defence posture has changed significantly, and the Warsaw Summit in July 2016 was an important landmark in our adaptation. We have tripled the size of the NATO Response Force to 40,000; established a 5,000 strong Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, ready to move within days; and set up eight small headquarters in the eastern part of our Alliance. multinational battlegroups to Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, with contributions from 17 different Allied countries – including Canada and the United States. This is clear evidence of the enduring strength of the transatlantic bond. We are increasing our presence in the southeast of the Alliance, centred on a multinational brigade in Romania. We have also stepped up air policing over the Baltic and Black Sea areas, the report says.