President of Georgia expressed confidence that his country will join NATO
The President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili, expressed confidence that soon, "Georgia, undoubtedly, will become a member of NATO."
Speaking at the opening of joint military exercises, Noble Partner 2016, with the United States of America and Great Britain he declared that these exercises are a "continuation of our policy on rapprochement with NATO."
About 500 Georgian, 650 American and 150 British soldiers are taking part in the exercises. The official purpose of the exercises is the preparation of the Georgian contingent to collaborate with the NATO Response Force (NRF) staff.
American tanks and infantry fighting vehicles have arrived for these exercises at the Black Sea port, Poti, on May 5th. It became the first large-scale deployment of American military equipment to Georgia.
The training will come to an end on May 26th, Georgian Independence Day, with a military parade.
Russia, which began a war with Georgia in 2008 and occupied two of its separatist regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – has declared earlier that these exercises are "a provocative step" of NATO with the purpose "of destabilizing" the Caucasian region. According to the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, these exercises serve to "develop the Georgian State" and "encourage the revanchist plans of Tbilisi" for NATO. Georgia has rejected these statements by Russia, having noted that it independently decides what trainings to conduct.
In Georgia, even before the war with Russia that began in 2008, a referendum was held and 77 percent of participants supported the country joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Even after the change of power in 2012, Georgia is steadily pursuing a course for Euro-Atlantic integration, seeking to enter the EU and NATO.