NATO Deputy Secretary-General Alexander Vershbow has arrived in Tbilisi for a two-day visit that deals with Georgia’s prospective integration into the alliance.
Vershbow told reporters in Tbilisi early on January 29 that his meetings with senior Georgian officials would focus on the implementation of a package of integration mechanisms that was expanded at NATO’s Wales summit in September.
He said his expectations are high.
Vershbow was to meet with Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili, and Defense Minister Mindia Janelidze.
He also was scheduled to meet the speaker of parliament, Georgian Orthodox Patrarch Ilia II, and representatives of opposition parties.
Vershbow is to visit the site of a joint training center that Georgia and NATO are building, which he has said he hopes will open this year.
Russia strongly opposes NATO membership for Georgia. Its forces drove deep into the ex-Soviet republic in a five-day war in 2008, while Moscow backs two breakaway regions.