Georgian Parliament to Adopt New Law on Military Reserves

On February 7, the Parliament endorsed Georgia’s new military reserve system, concluding an almost year-long process on its reform. The amendments bill, which was drafted by the Ministry of Defense, will come into effect on June 1 this year.  

The law stipulates that the new military reserve system will have two parts: the active reserve and the mobilization component. There will, however, be three subcomponents to the active reserve: the reserves of the armed forces will be made up of former servicemen and law enforcement officers. It will ensure an “immediate involvement of reservists, as well as strengthening and supporting the armed forces;” there will be a territorial reserve established under the National Guard that will provide support to the armed forces in their respective territorial units; highly skilled professionals will make up the specialized reserve that will helped the armed forces deal with specific tasks. The active reserve will be voluntary, with recruits (aged 18-65) signed on five-year contracts. The wages of active reserve members will comprise of 20% of the salary of their respective military ranks in addition to full military salary during service. It will be paid on a monthly basis.  

Meanwhile, the mobilization reserve will be created to support the armed forces during emergency situations and wartime. Service in this component will be compulsory, with the age of recruits ranging from 18 to 60 years old.  

The number of active reserve force members will be set by the Georgian Government, while that of the mobilization forces will be set by the General Staff of the Defense Ministry. According to the Defense Ministry, a pilot project in 2018 will see 260 servicemen recruited to the active reserve forces, with a total of 1.37m set aside for their salaries, food, equipment and training. 

The new military reserve concept is based on the Strategic Defense Review for 2017-2020, and reflects the total defense approach, which the document as defense “on the country’s whole territory, with full national effort, employing both military and civilian resources.”

By Máté Földi