Georgian MFA: NATO Member States Condemn Murder of Tatunashvili
The NATO-Georgia Commission (NGC) meeting was held at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels on March 26, where Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Davit Zalkaliani presented the 10th Annual National Program.
The document was approved by the State Commission for NATO Integration on March 22.
Georgia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) reports that the participants expressed support for Georgia's integration into NATO and positively evaluated the agenda of the reforms included in the Annual National Program.
“The document was evaluated as result-oriented, ambitious and comprehensive. The allies focused on the importance of the successful implementation of reforms. In addition, it was noted that Georgia successfully uses all the instruments to bring the country closer to integration with the Alliance,” the MFA reports.
Zalkaliani thanked the allies for supporting Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, assistance in the process of strengthening the country's defense capabilities and implementation of reforms. He also expressed hope that Georgia will be presented at the NATO Summit in July this year as a successful aspirant country and that the steps taken towards Euro-Atlantic integration will be reflected in the final documents of the Summit.
The Georgian MFA also says that the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs provided detailed information to the Member States on the situation in Georgia's occupied territories and the circumstances of the killing of Georgian citizen Archil Tatunashvili, who died on February 23rd in Georgia’s Russian-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia.
“Representatives of Member States expressed concern about the human rights violations on the occupied territories and condemned the murder of the Georgian citizen. The Allies once again reaffirmed their strong support for Georgia's sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-recognition policy,” the Ministry said.
The NGC was established in September 2008 to serve as a forum for both political consultations and practical cooperation to help Georgia achieve its goal of membership in NATO.
The NGC aims to deepen political dialogue and cooperation between NATO and Georgia at all appropriate levels.
All NATO member states and Georgia are represented in the NGC, which meets regularly at the level of ambassadors and military representatives, as well as periodically at the level of foreign and defense ministers and chiefs of staff, and occasionally at summit level.
By Thea Morrison
Photo source: MFA of Georgia