NATO Chief Praises Georgia's Progress in Defense Reforms Implementation

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Georgia that has been seeking NATO membership for years is in the process of implementation of the reforms that will make the country more compatible with NATO.

"We have a very close partnership with Georgia, covering a wide range of areas and issues…. NATO provides support for Georgia when it comes, for instance, to building defense institutions, helping with implementing reforms, and we recognize the progress that Georgia is making," Stoltenberg told reporters following the meeting of NATO-Georgia Commission in Brussels.

Georgian Defense Minister Levan Izoria, who participated in the meeting, said at press briefing that the ongoing defense reforms were aimed at optimization of the structure of country's armed forces and on the effective management of the ministry's resources, according to Georgia's Defense Ministry press service.

In early January, Izoria said that the military reforms planned in Georgia for 2017 were aimed at making the country more compatible with NATO.

Georgia has been seeking NATO membership since the country became a member of the Alliance's Partnership for Peace program in 1994. In 2008, at the NATO Bucharest Summit, member states agreed to Georgia becoming a NATO member in the future.