Georgian premier thanks NATO chief for support on territorial integrity, sovereignty

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze on Monday thanked visiting NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg for his support to his country's territorial integrity and sovereignty.

Speaking at a press conference together with Stoltenberg following a meeting, Kobakhidze thanked the alliance chief for his "timely and fair" statements regarding the current events in Georgia's breakaway regions.

"Georgia is one of the most loyal and reliable partners of the Alliance … Over the years, our country actively participated in the ongoing operations under the auspices of NATO, thereby making a significant contribution to strengthening the common Euro-Atlantic security," he said.

Kobakhidze further said that NATO played and continues to play an important role in the development of Georgia's defense capabilities while expressing that NATO is currently in a "difficult and challenging period."

"The rules-based international order is undergoing fundamental changes. The idea of a whole, free and peaceful Europe is under threat. In this difficult situation, it is necessary for the international community to show unanimity and strong commitment to the principles of international law," he added.

For his part, Stoltenberg said Georgia is one of NATO's closest partners and that they highly appreciate Tbilisi's "substantial contributions" to NATO missions and operations.

Expressing that they fully support Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Stoltenberg said the breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions are parts of Georgia.

In 2008, a five-day conflict broke out between Georgia and Russia over the two breakaway regions.

Tbilisi ultimately lost control of both regions, which Russia later recognized as independent states.

In response, Georgia cut off diplomatic relations with Russia, prompting Switzerland to step in as a mediator.

Both regions are still internationally recognized as Georgian territories.

"NATO continues to call on Russia to reverse the recognition of Georgian territories as independent states. Russia's organization of elections in the occupied parts of Georgia and Ukraine is completely illegal. Russia's presidential election was clearly neither free nor fair," he added.

He went on to say NATO's partnership with Tbilisi is strong and that they agreed to a new partnership program to deepen ties between Georgia and NATO.

"I welcome the progress made in areas like crisis management, cybersecurity, and military engineering," he said.

Stoltenberg arrived in Georgia on the second stop in his three-day visit to the South Caucasus region. The NATO chief previously visited Azerbaijan, and he will visit Armenia on Tuesday.