While Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili met with UK Defense Secretary Geoffrey Hoon in London on July 12, a company-sized group of the British officers and soldiers were holding joint military exercises together with Georgian servicemen near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi.
President Saakashvili launched his first official visit to the Great Britain on July 12 despite tensions in Georgia’s breakaway South Ossetian region. During his three day visit Saakashvili will meet Prime Minister Tony Blair, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw and Queen Elizabeth II.
“[This] visit to London was schedule long before the crisis in South Ossetia [occurred] and I am not going to cancel it. This visit is especially important for Georgia at the moment because we have to ensure international support while tensions [in South Ossetia] persist in the background. That is why this visit is of vital importance,” President Saakashvili said at the Tbilisi airport before departure to London on July 12.
Just before Saakashvili’s visit to London, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov was in the British capital, where he accused Georgia once again of fueling tensions in South Ossetia.
President Saakashvili told Georgian reporters on July 13 in London that Georgia seeks for closer ties with the European countries.
“The Great Britain is more interested with Georgia now. We should create closer ties with the European states, like we have with the United States,” President Saakashvili said.
After the talks between the Georgian President and the UK Defense Secretary, Mikheil Saakashvili made a brief comment to Georgian reporters, saying that the boosting of military cooperation between the two countries was discussed.
“Georgians can learn military tactics well, but we need trainers, instructors and more advisors for this. Our officers need to learn English as well, and the British militaries can help us in this,” Mikheil Saakashvili said.
He also said that the issue of Georgia’s integration into the North Atlantic Alliance was discussed during the meeting. “Georgia’s accession into NATO is an inevitable process. Some Russian politicians may be very irritated by this, but this is inevitable,” Saakashvili added.
There are ever-increasing signs of growing bilateral military cooperation between Georgia and the UK. The UK has already dispatched one special civilian defense advisor to the Georgian Defense Minister in an effort to help the Georgian side carry out reforms in the defense sector.
At the moment, a British military advisory training team (BMATT) is also helping Georgian troops, which have already been trained in frames of the U.S.-funded Georgia Train-and-Equip Program, through peace support operations training courses.
A company-sized group of British officers and soldiers from the rifle volunteers are holding bilateral infantry training with Georgian servicemen from the 11th brigade at the Vaziani military base near the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. These exercises, dubbed the ‘Georgian Express 2004,’ were launched on July 4 and will continue until July 17.
British Foreign Office Minister Bill Rammell MP visited Georgia on July 5-6 in order to discuss bilateral ties with the Georgian leadership. During this visit he said “the United Kingdom has close ties with Georgia.”
In October 1, 2002 the UK Foreign Secretary, Jack Straw, appointed Sir Brian Fall as the UK’s Special Representative for Georgia. Sir Brain Fall’s main focus is on conflict resolution issues.
“Our Special Representative, Sir Brian Fall, works closely with the Georgian Government, particularly in encouraging the settlement of conflicts within its borders,” Bill Rammell noted during the visit, according to the British Embassy in Tbilisi.
In an interview with the British newspaper Independent Bill Rammell said that the UK welcomes Georgia’s new government’s efforts in democratization process. However he added “it’s important that we don’t go into it naively. Local elections next year will be a critical test of how the pace of progress is going forward. I think it is right that we engage and support, but not uncritically.”