The first and foremost basis of NATO-Georgia cooperation is Georgia"s aspiration to join the alliance - this decision was taken at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 and this decision is valid - Georgia will become a NATO member! – said Deputy Secretary General of NATO Rose Gottemoeller.

She addressed the audience of the Defense and Security Conference in Batumi from Brussels and spoke about the NATO-Georgia cooperation.

“Our visit was held in Batumi and it is not just a coincidence that this wonderful city is hosting this conference as well. By doing so, we wanted to underline the importance of cooperation with the Black Sea region in general and with Georgia in particular. NATO"s cooperation with Georgia is unique and is based on several areas. The first and foremost basis is Georgia"s aspiration to join the alliance. You all know that this decision was made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit. This decision is still valid - Georgia will become a NATO member! Through years of working together, Georgia has moved closer to NATO membership and this is supported by all allies. Georgia is making continuous progress through a number of mechanisms, which is the second direction of our cooperation", - said Rose Gottemoeller.
Georgian Defense Minister also spoke about the prospect of Georgia"s NATO membership. According to Irakli Garibashvili, the authorities should not give false expectations to the population.
"We cannot give the population false expectations and then disappoint them. This is the biggest mistake made by the previous government. We do not have a similar policy. We are conducting the right policy with NATO, and to summarize in two words, we must be patient but ready", - said Garobashvili.
Georgian Defense and Security Conference (GDSC) started in Batumi yesterday and will end today.