Georgia, Latvia mull defense co-op
By Jamila Babayeva
Latvia's Defense Minister Raymond Vejonis met with his Georgian counterpart Irakli Alasania during his official visit to Georgia.
"Alasania thanked his Latvian counterpart for the support to his country's territorial integrity and its accession to the Euro-Atlantic structures," Georgian Defense Ministry reported.
Alasania also praised the participation of the Latvian observers in the EU monitoring mission and Latvia's active involvement in the Georgia III project of the NATO Support Agency (NSPA).
The bilateral cooperation and its future directions were discussed during the meeting. The prospects of Georgia's accession to NATO were one of the main topics of the talks. Attention was also paid to the importance of signing an association agreement with the EU.
Alasania provided his Latvian counterpart with information on Georgia's participation in international missions, held under the auspices of NATO and the EU.
Alasania also briefed Vejonis on reforms implemented in the defense sector.
He particularly noted the progress in the defense transformation process, including joining the NATO Building Integrity (BI) Program, holding institutional reform, depoliticization of the army, improvement of the social conditions for the military men and infrastructure development.