On 3 December, Georgia’s Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani announced that the NATO-Georgia substantial package was updated following the NATO online ministerial. 

He pointed out that the essential package contains strengthened military components, which will serve to strengthen Georgia's defence capabilities. “This package primarily envisages strengthening Georgia's defence capabilities, in particular: further strengthening the NATO-Georgia Joint Training Center and expanding its capabilities and more involvement of NATO partners in the issue of Black Sea security, which involves more ‘port calls’ and enhanced exercises and alignment with the standards of our naval alliance. The updated package envisages secure communication, as it is important for us to have secure communication channels with NATO, while in today's world there are cyber-attacks and various hybrid threats,” Zalkaliani said. He added that considering the coronavirus pandemic, the essential package includes military-medical cooperation between Georgian and NATO partners. 

“Georgia and Ukraine are valued NATO partners. Who make important contributions to our missions? Today, we restated our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine. We discussed their reform programmes. And we are stepping up our practical support. I am pleased that allies and Georgia approved the updated Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. Stepping up our political support. The ministers agreed on further steps to improve our situational awareness in the region and strengthen our dialogue with both partners,” stated NATO’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the occasion.

A day earlier, a group of NATO experts presented their report stating that the alliance “should expand and strengthen partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia as the vulnerable democracies that seek membership and are under constant external and internal pressure from Russia.” When commenting on the report, Stoltenberg said that by 2030 NATO should become more global and the cooperation with partners (Caucasus Watch reported).

The Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP) is a set of measures and initiatives aimed at strengthening Georgia’s defence capabilities and developing closer security cooperation and interoperability with NATO Members. The SNGP includes support to 13 areas including strategic and operational planning, aviation, air defence, maritime security, strategic communications, special operations, military police, cyber defence, acquisition and procurement, and intelligence-sharing. It involves strategic level advice and liaison, defence capacity-building and training activities, multinational exercises and enhanced interoperability opportunities. The main principles of the substantial package are: 1) supporting Georgia’s security vision; 2) building on capacity-building experiences; 3) supporting broader reforms; 4) strengthening defence capabilities and preparedness; 5) promoting regional stability and 6) advancing interoperability.