NATO applicant refuses to participate in bloc’s wargames
The Georgian military will not participate in NATO’s ongoing Defender 23 exercises, and will instead focus on other drills this year, the country’s defense ministry has said.
The wargames, led by the US European Command, kicked off on April 22 and will continue until June 23. According to the Pentagon, their main goal is to boost interoperability between NATO members in Europe, while also demonstrating how fast troops can be deployed across the continent. Some 9,000 US servicemen and around 17,000 troops from 26 other countries are expected to be involved in the exercises.
Georgia was initially listed among the participants, but on Tuesday, the defense ministry in Tbilisi confirmed that its forces will not be involved.
“Based on the goals and objectives of the Defense Forces, through active communication with our main strategic partner, it was decided to direct more efforts and resources to such international and local exercises, which include increasing combat readiness, increasing interoperability with NATO member countries and partners, exchange of experience and improvement of professional skills,” the ministry said in a statement.
The Georgian forces have already participated in four international drills in 2023 and are planning to take part in several more before the end of the year, the ministry noted.
The leaking of information to the media regarding Georgia’s withdrawal from the NATO drills was “another provocation” against the defense ministry, the statement added.
During its Bucharest summit in 2008, NATO said Georgia and Ukraine should join the bloc, but didn’t provide any timeline for their accession. Georgia has retained its status as an “aspirant country” since 2011. In February, a survey by pollster CRRC-Georgia suggested that some 74% of the population were in favor of the country joining the bloc.
Russia has been warning for years that NATO’s eastward expansion toward its borders is a ‘red line’. Kiev’s aspirations of joining the bloc was highlighted by Moscow among the main reasons for launching its military operation in Ukraine more than a year ago.
