NATO, Georgia dignitaries reaffirm partnership at staff drills

Officials and military commanders from Georgia and NATO converged to the a bilateral training venue outside Tbilisi to reaffirm common values and strategic partnership on the backdrop of the ongoing NATO-Georgia Exercise in the country.

President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili was flanked at the distinguished visitors' day at the Joint Training and Evaluation Centre (JTEC) by Prime Minister Irakli Bakhtadze and Minister of Defence Levan Izoria on the political side of the high-ranking representation.

Over on the military command spectrum, Chief of Defence Forces of Georgia Major General Vladimer Chachibaia and Admiral Manfred Nielson, NATO's Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation spoke to visitors on the demonstration day at the centre.

Military personnel from partner countries listen to President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili during the distinguished visitors' day at the JTEC. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

[Georgia's leading of the exercise] shows how much the trust and support of our strategic partners for Georgia has increased. This recognition is the answer to our utmost efforts [in the partnership]," — President of Georgia Salome Zurabishvili.

Dedicated to presenting the ongoing exercise to the high-ranking personalities, the event showcased cooperation between defence personnel from 24 countries working on staff-level drills.

The service members exercised non-Article 5 crisis scenarios for NATO member and partner states, as the exercise was led by Georgian defence forces for the first time since its launch in 2016.

Developing command and control capabilities of the Georgian Defence Forces, the drills are also aimed at further improving interoperability between Georgian service members and their counterparts from NATO members and partner states.

Admiral Nielson (right) spoke to civilian and military visitors as well as the regional media at the event. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

[The Georgian hosts] are the ones running this show. You are the ones in lead, and you do it — and let me already say [this] — in a marvellous way," — NATO Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, Admiral Manfred Nielson.

Over 340 personnel are involved in the Computer-Assisted Command Post Exercise that opened on March 18 at the JTEC, a NATO-Georgia training venue that has been praised as "perhaps the most tangible" result of the cooperation by the alliance.

The JTEC personnel are mentored by the Allied Commander Transformation, the NATO Allied Land Command and the alliance's Joint Force Training Centre. The eventual goal of the parties is to train a Georgian-led multinational brigade.

The ongoing NATO-Georgia Exercise involves personnel from 24 NATO member and partner countries. Photo: Nino Alavidze/agenda.ge.

The exercise, due to conclude on Friday, also involves civilian efforts through the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United Nations Department of Peacekeeping Operations.

This week also saw visits of NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Chairman of the alliance's Military Committee Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach to Tbilisi.

Stoltenberg reiterated commitment to seeing Georgia become a member of the transatlantic organisation, while Peach urged Russia to withdraw its troops from Georgia's occupied regions of Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) and Abkhazia.