Minister of Defence of Georgia Irakli Alasania met with his German counterpart, Ursula von der Leyen. In the history of independent Georgia, this is the first official visit of the Georgian Defence Minister to the Federal Republic of Germany, reports GHN based on the Ministry of Defense.
The official welcoming ceremony was held at the Federal Ministry of Defence of Germany. At the bilateral meeting colleagues discussed current military cooperation between Germany and Georgia and the future plans of partnership. The sides also covered joint participation of Georgia and Germany in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan in 2015. Defence Minister thanked his German colleague for the support of the German side in development of the Georgian military educational system and expressed hope that fruitful cooperation in this field will continue in the future. NATO-Georgia Substantial Package and contribution of Germany in implementation of its elements was one of the main topics of discussion. Special focus was also made on the security environment in the region and global security issues. "Georgian-German cooperation in the military sphere is becoming more and more intensive. At the meeting with the German Defence Minister we discussed the pre-deployment training that the Georgian Armed Forces underwent to get ready for the Resolute Support Mission. Our military servicemen received high appreciation from the German side. Their combat readiness is very high and they will continue to make their contribution to the international peace and security along with the German military servicemen from 2015. We also covered the bilateral cooperation issues with regard to the military education and how to enhance the capabilities in order to achieve the full interoperability with NATO and Germany. One of the important topics of our discussion was NATO-Georgia Substantial package and German Defence Minister expressed readiness to take the lead in implementation of its elements that is necessary precondition for our future NATO membership", declared Irakli Alasania.
Georgian Defence Minister is on a three-day official visit to the Federal Republic of Germany. He already visited the Georgian military unit at Wildflecken Military Base where the company of the IV Mechanized Brigade of GAF is going through pre-deployment preparation to engage in the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan. Irakli Alasania also visited the Operation Command and met the Commander of the Operations Command, Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Fritz. At the end of the visit, Minister will arrive at Koerber Foundation and deliver speech on the topic "Regional Security Challenges and the Importance of NATO Wales Summit Decisions." The representatives of German political circles, research and analytical centers will attend the event.