MoD Denies AWACS Arrival in Georgia

(Tbilisi, July 18, 2003, Civil Georgia) – The Georgian Ministry of Defense (MoD) denied report regarding possible arrival of the NATO’s Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) surveillance plane in Georgia.

Russian media sources report that the AWACS plane will conduct two-hour flight in Georgian on July 19.

Georgian authorities gave a one-hour test flight to the AWACS plane on July 9 in the Georgian airspace, causing protest of Russia.

“The Ministry can not confirm the report that the AWACS will conduct second flight in Georgia. We have already conducted a joint measure on July 9. So, implementation of analogous measure is not anticipated in the nearest days,” Spokesman for the Defense Ministry Mirian Kiknadze told Civil Georgia.

The Defense Ministry Spokesman did not rule out the possibility of use of Georgia’s air space by the AWACS plane in the frames of the NATO Partnership for Peace Program, though “NATO should notify about it beforehand.”

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