On 1 July, the NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai visited Georgia. In an exclusive interview with the Georgian Public Broadcaster (GPB), he spoke about the aspects of the NATO-Georgia cooperation.

According to the NATO official, the security environment in the region has changed fundamentally. “One of the things I’d like to do is compliment the Georgian government for having played a very important role in allowing Azerbaijan and Armenia to come to an agreement on exchange of prisoners and maps of unexploded ordinance. I think Georgia is really demonstrating its value or the added value it has and can have when it comes to regional security,” Appathurai said.

According to Appathurai, there are even more Russian troops around Georgia after the Nagorno-Karabakh war. “We also recognise that what happened during and after the Nagorno-Karabakh war, the short war has not improved the security environment for Georgia in this region. Now there are Russian troops in Azerbaijan, and… even more Russian troops around Georgia. And to be honest, I think the Azerbaijanis also see the Russian presence as temporary. That’s the agreement. I think it’s a five-year period. So, we’re discussing the situation with our Georgian colleagues, the deputy defence minister was just in NATO, and we discussed that together. I’ll discuss it when I’m here. We’ll do whatever we can to help Georgia, but we are grateful for the constructive role that Georgia has played,” he emphasised.

Another important topic for Appathurai was the Brussels NATO Summit and the adopted communique.  “I would say if you look at the NATO Brussels summit, there is a lot in there beyond one sentence, which I think Georgians can be quite pleased about. First, it does reiterate that Georgia will enter NATO based on the Bucharest decision and subsequent decisions. Second, we took a decision that the open door of NATO is to be strengthened, that we need to do more to make sure that the door is open and to help the countries that want to join NATO to prepare for memberships,” he said. “So, from now on, towards our December foreign ministers’ meeting and the summit next year in Madrid, we are working on concrete steps to enhance support to Georgia and to Ukraine to prepare more actively with more support from us, for NATO membership. But also, to look at how we in NATO can be more open. So, that’s the second element. The third element is the Black Sea. We recognise that security is deteriorating in the Black Sea for us, as well as for Georgia and Ukraine. So, there’ll be concrete steps that we’re working on now to do even more than we are [currently] doing to cooperate when it comes to the Black Sea. There are very tough messages on Russia, including that we recognise that Russia is in essence de-stabilising its neighbourhood, and we understand why that’s happening,” he added.

Appathurai also said that Georgia possesses all the practical tools to become a NATO member. “The next step for Georgia from a sort of the political point of view is indeed Membership Action Plan. That is set out in all of our documents and, unless there’s a change of policy, that is a required step, but what is also clear to those of us who work on this issue, is Georgia has all the practical tools necessary to prepare for membership. We have the annual national program. We have the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, everything Georgia needs to prepare for membership from a practical point of view it has, it is implementing, and we’re doing it,” he stated

Afterwards, Appathurai met with Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, parliament members and President Salome Zourabichvili. At the meeting with Garibashvili, the parties discussed security challenges in the Black Sea region and the current state across Georgian separatist regions. Garibashvili stressed the importance of the international community’s support for the release of Georgian citizens who were detained by the Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regime. At the meeting with Zalkaliani,  the parties focused on the security in the Black Sea region, emerging security challenges like cybersecurity, and cooperation. 

While meeting the representatives of the Georgian parliament, Appathurai stated that he was very pleased that the EU-brokered agreement on ending the political polarisation in the country is being implemented. “We are also pleased to see that there is progress with the judiciary reform, and I know that the US Ambassador (Kelly Degnan) has been active about that,” he added. At the meeting with Zourabichvili, Appathurai received the Georgian State Award –  the Golden Fleece for his outstanding personal contribution to the deepening of Georgia-NATO relations and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic integration, and for his strong support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity in the international arena.