Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili
Photo: ÈÒÀÐ-ÒÀÑÑ
|
 |
Saakashvili Sends Georgian Soldiers to Afghanistan
Georgian military will join the peacekeeping operation of NATO in Afghanistan. Chiefs of Georgia’s Defense Ministry are in Brussels now, where they hold consultations with top-ranked officials of NATO.
Georgia stands ready to send a special division exactly to the sector, which is the most vital for the alliance, Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia told Rustavi 2 TV company.
Unlike many NATO members, Georgia has no preliminary conditions for the place of service of its military, Defense Ministry’s representative emphasized.
The so-called French sector in Afghanistan will be the place of Georgian military’s dislocation, according to preliminary data. The strength of troops to be sent there hasn’t been disclosed so far.
Georgia that has been long endeavoring to join NATO does utmost to attain this purpose. This year, for instance, Tbilisi will double Defense Ministry’s funding to make Georgian army in line with the NATO requirements.
Georgia may become NATO’s candidate already in 2008, Poland’s President Lech Kaczyński forecasted.
As to Russia, it is predictably agitated. Official Tbilisi, however, asserts it isn’t the Moscow’s concern but rather bilateral relations of NATO and Georgia.
www.kommersant.com
|
|
|
