Stoltenberg Comes to Georgia Next Year

By Gvantsa Gabekhadze

Tuesday, December 18

Georgia says that NATO-Georgian relations will further enhance in 2019.

NATO-Georgia drills will take place next year.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will visit Georgia in 2019, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said on Monday.

“We had a very successful year in terms of Georgia's integration into NATO, which was crowned by a special meeting with Georgia and Ukraine at a NATO Ministerial this month.

“NATO has adopted an unprecedented declaration in support of Georgia. We received clear messages from NATO Secretary-General and partner countries. In 2019, we expect further engagement from NATO, we are looking forward to NATO-led military exercises, we are looking forward to the NATO Secretary General's visit and we are working on other important events that will further highlight NATO's engagement in Georgia. We are talking about strengthening the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, "said Zalkaliani.

NATO representative James Appathurai was the first who has announced “more NATO in Georgia” next year during his visit to Georgia last week.

The statements have already triggered negative comments from Russia.

After the 11-12 December Geneva International Discussions on Georgian conflict issues Russian Foreign Ministry wrote that the Russian, Abkhaz and South Ossetian delegations [two occupied regions of Georgia] reiterated that the main challenge to regional security is the military activities of the US and NATO on Georgian territory, including the plans of Washington and Tbilisi to modernize the military airfield in Vaziani [near Tbilisi] and conduct the next large-scale multinational military exercises in 2019.

“We believe that the recent statements by NATO Secretary General and US Secretary of State in support of Georgia’s membership in NATO are provocative. It was just such irresponsible promises in August 2008 that pushed Tbilisi towards a criminal military adventure,” the Russian Foreign Ministry wrote.

On Monday Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claimed that Russia will not allow any type of aggression towards its allies-Abkhazia and South Ossetia.