NATO Military Committee to visit Georgia in March
By Tea Mariamidze
Friday, February 24
Georgia’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) reports that on March 2-3, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Military Committee (MC) will visit Georgia.
Chairman of MC, General Petr Pavel will lead the 28 senior NATO Military Representatives, accompanied by the Montenegrin Military Representative, to Georgia.
The Chief of General Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces (GAF), Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia, will host the high-rank military representatives.
The MoD says that the Military Committee is the senior military authority in NATO and the oldest permanent body in NATO after the North Atlantic Council, both having been formed months after the Alliance came into being. It is the primary source of military advice to NATO’s civilian decision-making bodies – the North Atlantic Council and the Nuclear Planning Group.
“The NATO MC is visiting Georgia for the second time. The visit is a strong message from the alliance, which continues to support Georgia’s Western integration strive and its efforts towards membership in NATO. It is also another demonstration of NATO-Georgia intensive and successful cooperation. This visit is a unique opportunity to discuss military issues, progress in GAF’s transformation, get first hand impression on the ground and further NATO-Georgia relations at the highest level,” the statement of the ministry reads.
The MC visit follows last year’s high level events, including the North Atlantic Council visit in September and the successful conduct of the second NATO-Georgia Exercise in October. The most recent NATO-Georgia Commission was held at the Defense Ministers meeting this February, wherein defense ministers from several countries discussed the regional security situation and increased measures in the Black Sea. The NATO Parliamentary Assembly will be held in Georgia in May 2017.
The visit will last for two days, and the Chair of NATO Military Committee General Petr Pavel will hold face-to-face meetings with President of Georgia Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime-Minister of Georgia Giorgi Kvirikashvili, Defense Minister Levan Izoria and Chief of General Staff of the GAF, Brigadier General Vladimer Chachibaia.
During the trip, NATO Military Representatives will also visit the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC) in Krtsanisi to attend the pre-deployment training of a Georgian military unit to “Resolute Support” mission in Afghanistan.
Petr Pavel, accompanied by the Military Committee, will also participate in wreath laying ceremony to pay respect to those who died defending peace and freedom. The NATO Military Representatives will also visit Davit Aghmashenebeli National Defense Academy.
