Joint press point

by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of Georgia, Giorgi Margvelashvili - Secretary General's opening remarks

  • 08 Jun. 2016 -
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  • Mis à jour le: 08 Jun. 2016 17:45

(As delivered)

President Margvelashvili, warmly welcome to NATO headquarters. It’s great to see you again, we have met before but it’s always a pleasure to receive you here at NATO headquarters. Because Georgia is such a highly valued partner for NATO and our partnership is strong and it’s getting stronger.

Georgia contributes substantially to Euro-Atlantic security.

Georgian troops have been standing shoulder to shoulder with NATO for many years.
Playing an outstanding role in our operations.

Georgia is currently the third-largest contributor to our Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan.
And I thank you so much for that and I also thank the Georgian people for Georgia’s strong contribution to NATO operations and missions.

Georgia has also carried out impressive defence reforms.

And you have put in place a more mature democracy.

So Georgia has moved closer to NATO.

And we are committed to helping you to do so.

Over the past two years, we have put in place a Substantial NATO-Georgia package of support to strengthen Georgia’s defence capabilities.

And implementation is well on track.

I was very impressed by the implementation of the substantial NATO-Georgia package when I visited Georgia last year.

Our Joint Training and Evaluation Centre in Tbilisi is up and running.

Joint exercises have also started. And I think it’s great to see that Georgian troops, NATO troops and troops of partner nations are exercising together in Georgia. That’s good for us, and it’s good for Georgia. And it a strong expression of the strong support in NATO for Georgia and for our partnership.

And around 30 NATO experts are in Georgia, helping your ongoing defence reforms, with more contributions to come.
So NATO is committed to continue helping you boost your security and carry out your reforms.

And at the Warsaw Summit next month, we will further strengthen our package of support for Georgia.

A clear demonstration of our strong political and practical support for your country.

During our meeting we also discussed today Georgia’s progress in consolidating its democratic institutions.

This includes the preparations for parliamentary elections later this year.

And ongoing efforts to strengthen rule of law and the independence of the judiciary.

I welcome the continuing reform efforts in all these areas.

They are of great importance.

So, Mr. President, once again welcome. Georgia and NATO are moving closer and I welcome that we are able to enhance our partnership.

We will continue to support you.

And I look forward to meet you in Warsaw in just a few weeks.

So once again, welcome.