Georgia - NATO say they’re ready to act jointly for Georgia’s integration into alliance

North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow and Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mikheil Janelidze met on March 2 in Brussels to discuss the existing relations between Georgia and the alliance, and speak about Georgia's future prospects.

At the meeting, Vershbow stressed the need for continued momentum in Georgia’s reform efforts and thanked Georgia for its contributions to the alliance’s peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan.

These contributions, he noted, have enabled Georgian forces to achieve a high degree of interoperability with NATO forces, NATO official webpage read.

Vershbow also highlighted Georgia's progress on the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package.

He noted that implementation efforts are on the right track, demonstrating the alliance’s commitment to Georgia’s security and progress towards membership in the alliance.

He also stressed the importance of continued work on the implementation of the Substantial Package and underscored NATO’ readiness to explore ways to strengthen cooperation with Georgia.

After the meeting, the NATO-Georgia Commission gathering was held with the key issues about Georgia’s progress to NATO, the progress of the Substantial Package's implementation and discussed ways in which the Alliance and Georgia could politically and practically enhance their relations ahead of this year’s NATO Warsaw Summit in Poland.

NATO praised Georgia’s democratic reforms that served to strengthen rule of law, democratic institutions and protect human rights in Georgia, Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote.

The Alliance members underlined the progress Georgia achieved through the democratic reforms and in the process of the implementation of the NATO-Georgia Substantial Package.

They expressed readiness to continue supporting Georgia in the successful implementation of the Package.

Georgia’s preparation for the Warsaw Summit was also highly discussed. The Alliance and Georgia said they were ready to rake a joint step that would ensure political support for Georgia’s NATO integration, as well as practical support to upgrade Georgia’s self-defences.

The Alliance members thanked Georgia for its contributions to international peace and security and reiterated their support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

It should be stressed that the upcoming Warsaw Summit is very important for Georgia, as there are a range of speculations over Georgia's future prospects with NATO.

Georgia is in need of the Membership Action Plan (MAP) from the alliance as a signal that Georgia really has a chance to become a member state.

Providing support for improving Georgia's defences is, naturally, welcome, but if Russia again decides to make war on Tbilisi, an upgraded infrastructure might not be a big help when one considers Russia’s military power.

Georgia needs an umbrella that will be a guarantee of our security, under which Georgia will feel more secure.

Security, for its part, is crucial for any state's development.