NATO to provide Georgia with package of special measures
By Victoria Moiseyeva
The Georgian delegation at the NATO Summit, scheduled from September 4 to 5 in Wales, will be led by Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili and First Deputy Foreign Minister, David Zalkaliani.
The delegation will also include Georgian Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze, Defense Minister Irakli Alasania and State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili.
U.S. President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande will attend the event along with leaders and senior ministers from around 60 countries.
The summit is planned to bring together the ISAF mission (International Security Assistance Force) participating countries at the level of delegation heads.
Moreover, a 28+4 meeting will also be held with participation of the NATO members and four aspirant countries (Georgia, Montenegro, Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina) at the level of foreign ministers.
Irakli Alasania will take part in a meeting of the 28+5 group partnership in advanced capabilities, as well as in a 28+24 meeting of the member states and allied countries.
During the Wales Summit, the NATO members will finally approve the "package of special measures" for Georgia and discuss its progress towards Euro-Atlantic integration as well.
"We will step up our efforts to improve the ability of the Georgian Armed Forces to work and operate together with NATO forces," said Secretary General of NATO, Anders Fogh Rasmussen at a press conference in Brussels on September 1.
He also added that NATO considers to expand its liaison office in Tbilisi, as well as to establish military training center in Georgia.
Georgia is the only non-NATO country that has taken part in all the meetings held between the allies and the non-members.
The cooperation between Georgia and the North Atlantic Alliance began with Georgia's joining the NATO-run North Atlantic Cooperation Council in 1992 and the Partnership for Peace, signing their agreement in 1994.
The partnership between Georgia and NATO deepened after the "Rose Revolution", when Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze was forced to resign. He was replaced by Mikheil Saakashvili, who promoted closer ties with the alliance.
During the NATO Bucharest Summit in 2008, the heads of the alliance confirmed that Georgia could potentially become member of NATO if it executes the alliance's standards.