The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili

Good Morning,

Mr. Secretary General. First, I would like to underscore how grateful the Georgian people are for your strong personal stand in support of Georgia.

In your previous capacity as Prime-Minister of Denmark we will never forget your strong statements in 2008, and the fact that you came to Tbilisi immediately after the events that took place then.

My first official visit after the events was to Denmark, and again I will never forget your reception and the very successful mission of being Secretary General of the Alliance.

You’ve been very strong in supporting Georgia’s NATO aspirations, in supporting our reforms, in supporting Georgia’s territorial integrity, and certainly this is something that makes a historic difference for long term prospects not only for my country, but also for our region.

We also appreciate the way you have lead NATO through very difficult missions where our success was absolutely essential for long term survival and progress.

We certainly are committed to further changes. We are looking forward to Chicago and I think that the framework we are receiving for Chicago looks more and more hopeful, because it really emphasizes that Georgia has been moving forward.

I noticed Mr. Secretary General that twice in your short statement today you mentioned Georgia as role model and a model country.

I visited President Obama in January. President Obama called Georgia a model for the whole region for reforms and changes and democracy building.

I think the fact that you also talk about this model of Georgia is of special significance to us. First it underlines our progress but also it demonstrates how committed we should stay to this direction.

You know, we have elections this year and we call strongly on the international community, on the European union, European parliament, the OSCE, and our partner countries, including the members of the alliance to send not only short term, but long term observers to do polling of public opinion during this period in order to monitor Georgia’s media coverage; in order to monitor party financing mechanisms in Georgia. To insure not only on the day of the elections but that the whole process is transparent, predictable by the observing standards.

We want to eliminate surprises or any kind of biased or negative pressure on the whole process from outside or from distracting elements from any side.

From that point of view, we really want your help this year and we will certainly be committed to doing this.

Countries usually try to avoid, especially in my regions, any kind of international intrusion into their election process, but we welcome it, we want it in order to make the whole process sustainable and institutionally irreversible.

From another point of view you know that we certainly are committed to our mission in Afghanistan, this is a hard mission, thank you for calling attention to this, but we know what is at stake here, we know that it also brings us close to alliance, it also resonates with Georgian history being part of the wide, western, civilized, or in this case democratic, wider community. From this point of view we and our people know that despite losses what is at stake there, for the international community, for our region, and what’s at stake for us and for our future.

It’s also good that the mission helps to develop Georgia’s own capacities, which have been evolving with your help.

The NATO-Georgia commission has really proven to be the right venue for this and I think we are moving forward. Again I’m looking forward to seeing the North Atlantic Council. It is our second meeting in the last several months, you’ve been very generous in your post assessment the last time you were in Georgia, and we’ve had quite a bit of progress up to now. I’ll report this progress to NAC and I’ll be very open to all kinds of questions, a frank discussion, and that’s what we appreciate about NATO. It’s not just a ceremonial thing, it’s really a place to discuss real business and have real decisions.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

Good morning. It is a great pleasure to see President Saakashvili again and to welcome him to NATO headquarters.

We last met a few months ago in Batumi, when the president hosted a visit of the North Atlantic Council to Georgia. Now the North Atlantic Council is about to host the President. And that shows that our dialogue is deep, it is intensive, and it really is a two-way street.

Georgia is a special partner for NATO. You are committed to our operations, to NATO accession, and committed to reforms.

You already contribute the second-largest non-NATO force to our mission in Afghanistan. And by the end of this year, you will be the largest non-NATO ISAF partner. Your troops are doing an outstanding job, shoulder-to-shoulder with NATO troops, under challenging circumstances. Some have given their lives in our shared cause and I pay tribute to their sacrifice, and I offer my deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.

But our relationship goes far beyond Afghanistan. Georgia aspires to join our Alliance, and we support your aspirations. We agreed at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 that Georgia will become a member of NATO. That decision stands firm. 

And let me reaffirm: the Alliance recognizes Georgia’s territorial integrity and its sovereignty within internationally recognized borders.

The Alliance does not recognize the elections held recently in the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The holding of these elections does not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia.

Georgia has become a model of commitment, cooperation and connectivity with the Alliance and we encourage you to continue that way. One month ago, we agreed on strengthening and broadening the connections between NATO and Georgia. This will support your reforms, increase our ability to operate together and strengthen the capacity of the Georgian institutions to pursue your Euro-Atlantic agenda and goals.   

This is a long road, and we are taking it one step at a time.

But you have already made good progress. And I trust that you will continue with your progress, and your reforms, as you approach the parliamentary elections this year. Those elections will be an important test for Georgia’s democracy and a chance to show how far you have come. I know that Allies will follow them closely.

In all, Georgia is a model partner. Mr. President, I look forward to seeing you again in Chicago, where Allies and partners will make clear our continued commitment to Afghanistan. And I expect that, in Chicago, we will also make clear how much we appreciate and recognize the commitment you show to NATO and the steady progress you have made.

Questions

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

The very clear statement from President Saakashvili as well as the Georgian government is that Georgia is committed to finding peaceful solutions to the regional disputes. We support those efforts. We also strongly support the Geneva talks with the aim to find the solution to conflicts on Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

But, more broadly speaking about security the President also made clear today that Georgian engagement in Afghanistan should also be seen as strong contribution to regional security because what is going on in Afghanistan will also have repercussions in the broader region including in the Caucasus. So I think Georgia has demonstrated that Georgia is not just a consumer of security but it is also a producer and provider of security.

As regards the reform process, we have seen clear progress when it comes to democratic reforms in Georgia. We have discussed that on several occasions and we appreciate very much the legislation that has been passed to improve the way democracy functions in Georgia. In more specific terms, when it comes to reforms of the defense and security sector, NATO has been strongly engaged and we also appreciate the progress achieved in that area. Overall, NATO has given a very positive assessment of the reform efforts in Georgia.

The President of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili

Well, as I said, the Secretary General basically said it brilliantly and I cannot put it in a better way. I have said that nobody can sell the success of the Georgian government to the world and to the Georgian people better. Not only is he a very good communicator but there is substance to it as well. And the substance is that our aspiration to NATO has been driving that process. When we talk about reforms, the fact is that more than 70% of our people are firmly committed to NATO membership and only 9% are against it. This clearly shows that it is a very powerful motivator for further democratic reforms and changes. From that point of view we are very committed to security because we said that we want to be part of a wider picture.

Georgia has a code of national history of being ourselves – a complex, multi-ethnic country with a complex background and that we should be present in these international operations because we want NATO to succeed. Any kind of setback of NATO would be a major, multiplied setback for Georgia. That’s a very clear thing for us. We cannot stay intact, or neutral or just impartial when we are talking about these issues where we have an absolutely vital interest in terms of success of the alliance. From that point of view, we want to do whatever we can in the withdrawal process but also finish the operation correctly.

Also, unfortunately, having lost people there we know that there is a risk in building post war Afghanistan, contributing to it not only in terms of funds but also in terms of changes, reforms, trainings, contributing our own infrastructure in the withdrawal process. We are willing to do all of that and this will only enhance our ties with the alliance because ultimately this is for our people. In any case, we have better cooperation with NATO than ever before.

We have very good political relations with this leadership of NATO because in the last two years we really received the commission and concrete instruments of how to better cooperate and that is what we are doing.