NATO is sufficiently present on the territory of Georgia; the creation of a full-fledged military base of the alliance is not being considered at this stage. The NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai, denied such an opportunity to the country in an interview with the Georgian First Channel.
“NATO is already significantly represented in Georgia – by military personnel in the center of joint training and retraining, in the school of military construction, besides, joint military exercises of NATO and Georgia take place every year. NATO has civilian and military offices in Georgia, ”he answered the journalist's question.
Appathurai stressed that the alliance is deploying military bases only on the territory of the member states of the bloc, and Georgia, as a partner state, cannot count on this. However, he noted, the level of NATO's presence in the country is unprecedented in comparison with other partners.
The representative of the bloc of countries also spoke about the prospects for future cooperation – NATO is ready to help Georgia develop the capabilities of mobile medicine, as well as improve trainings in the English language. He added that the Georgian state has all the practical tools to prepare for full membership in the bloc.
In August, Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia said that the country continues to strengthen partnerships in strategic areas – NATO, the United States and the European Union.
At the same time, in November 2019, the head of the NATO Allied Office in Georgia, Rosary Puglisi, stated that the alliance would not consider joining the republic without the territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
