NATO opens training center in Georgia

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will attend the opening of a joint NATO-Georgia training and assessment center as part of the first official visit to Georgia.

The opening of a joint training center in Georgia is part of a so-called “substantial” package of measures that was promised to Georgia at the NATO Wales summit last September.

The Georgian government says that the opening of a joint training center with NATO in Georgia is an important step not only from the point of view of further improving the country's defense, but also on the way of Georgia’s progress towards membership in the alliance.

NATO-Georgia-Russia

Representatives of the Georgian authorities earlier several times stressed that the center is not a military base, and its opening is not directed against Russia.

The Russian Foreign Ministry, in a statement following the next round of Geneva talks in July, said, however, that “the alliance’s intentions to create field infrastructure and conduct regular military exercises on Georgian territory” are particularly alarming.

According to the statement, representatives of Moscow, Sukhumi and Tskhinvali expressed concern about Georgia’s plans for further integration into NATO and noted that “movement in this direction poses a security threat to the South Caucasus.”

According to Sesiashvili, Moscow understands that the new training center is not a carrier of any direct threat to Russia, and the preparation and training of the Georgian military would be conducted by Georgia even if such a center would not be opened.

“It's just about improving quality,” he says. “But, unfortunately, Russia’s reaction is usually expressed inadequately when it comes to some event between Georgia and NATO,” he says.