Sokhumi Condemns Multinational “Agile Spirit” Drills in Georgia
The Foreign Ministry of occupied Abkhazia has expressed “serious concern” over the multinational “Agile Spirit” military exercises launched at Senaki military base in western Georgia last week, saying that these exercises are “destabilizing” and will have “negative effects on the security of all neighboring countries.”
“Georgia and its western patrons are again demonstrating their open support to militarization that goes against the efforts towards building trust in the region,” the Foreign Ministry of occupied Abkhazia said in a statement on July 30.
“Such destructive policy directly threatens national security of the Republic of Abkhazia and violates the principles of security and stability in South Caucasus,” the statement reads.
It also noted that “Georgia’s partners” should understand that such actions “incite revanchist moods of Georgian “hawks” and contain a threat of thwarting the attempts of establishing “a civilized interstate dialogue.”
According to the statement, Sokhumi will raise the issue during the next round of the Geneva International Discussions.
Up to 3,300 troops from the NATO member and partner countries, including Bulgaria, Belgium, Georgia, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, UK and US, are participating in the exercise.
Georgia is a host of “Agile Spirit” drills since 2011, when the exercise started as a bilateral training for the U.S. and Georgian military. Since 2015 a number of other countries have joined in.
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