Azernews.Az

By Mushvig Mehdiyev

Georgia is a very close and strong partner of NATO, said a top official of the alliance.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, said NATO-Georgia relations were very strong and were deepening.

"NATO is committed to help Georgia make its defense more modern, and thereby enable its access to membership at the alliance. We have set together a team of experts to advise the Georgian authorities on defense reforms,” he noted.

Stoltenberg said troops from NATO and Georgia, as well as the partner nations will be trained together at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center to be opened soon in Tbilisi.

He appreciated the center's establishment as a clear signal of NATO’s strong commitment to Georgia.

Stoltenberg also thanked Georgia for its significant contribution to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and other international operations.

He welcomed Georgia’s steady progress in implementing reforms and the positive trends in the country’s democratic development.

"We encourage Georgia to keep going on this path - to consolidate democratic institutions, take forward judicial reforms and ensure full respect for the rule of law,” he said.

Stoltenberg praised Georgia’s active role in the Geneva Talks on Georgia-Russia conflict in 2008 and criticized Russia for not taking the same efforts.

He blamed Russia for violating its international obligations and commitments, contradicting the principles of international law and destabilizing its behavior in its neighborly relations.

"We reaffirm our strong support for Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty within its internationally recognized borders. We once again call on Russia to reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions of Georgia as independent states and pull back its forces from Georgia. This is and will remain NATO’s clear position,” Stoltenberg said.

Russia's official position on the issue was quite strict, as a top Russian diplomat said the military activity of NATO in Transcaucasia threatens the stability of the region.

In an interview with Tass, a Russian media outlet, Grigori Karasin, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, said NATO military programs supported by Georgia always threaten the region's stability and disturb the neighboring countries.

"We called on the Georgian and U.S. representatives to approach this issue very carefully, since it can upset the balances in the region leading to serious consequences for the regional stability," Karasin noted.

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