The President of Georgia met with the NATO Secretary General in Batumi today. The sides stressed that the successful reforms implemented recently have brought our country even closer to NATO. During the meeting the NATO Secretary General positively assessed not only the reforms implemented in the defence and security spheres, but the ongoing democratic proceses in Georgia as well. Anders Fogh Rasmussen uniformly stated that the alliance has good instruments of interacting with Georgia that will also be used effectively in the future. He once again reaffirmed NATO’s support of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia. According to him, the policy of NATO towards Georgia has not changed and it welcomes the aspiration of Georgia to the membership in the alliance. He reiterated the point, he made during the NATO summit in Bucharest in 2008 as well as during the following summits, that Georgia will become a member of the alliance.

The NATO Secretary General thanked the Georgian side for participation and contribution in the peaceful mission in Afghanistan. According to him, Georgia has the most numerous representation in Afghanistan among NATO non-member states, which Anders Fogh Rasmussen considers an important factor.

The Secretary General congratulated the President on reaching the agreement regarding the membership of Russia into the WTO and called it one more successful step for Georgia.