NATO has agreed a new support package for Georgia and Ukraine in the context of the black sea region's security. The decision was made on April 2 at a meeting of the foreign Ministers of the member States, held in the format of a teleconference due to the coronavirus.

According to the Georgian foreign Ministry, the package includes several initiatives:

Even more inclusion of Georgia and Ukraine in the planned NATO exercises on the Black sea;

Expanding cooperation against hybrid threats;

Inclusion of Georgia in the regional Black sea air data exchange program;

Active participation of Ukraine in the Georgia-NATO exercises, in the Joint training and evaluation center (JTEC) or in the planned activities Of the school of construction of defense institutes of Georgia (DIBS).

On March 27, Georgian foreign Minister David Zalkaliani and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed all these issues over the phone. All parties agree to continue working to implement the package of measures.

The Ministry of foreign Affairs notes that even against the background of the coronavirus pandemic, NATO "remains committed to the course of Euro-Atlantic integration of Georgia" and "further deepens the formats of cooperation through concrete solutions."

Institutional cooperation between Georgia and NATO began in 1994, when Georgia became a member of the Partnership for peace program.

At the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, it was decided that Georgia would become a member of NATO. At the same time, Georgia was not provided with an official standard Membership Action Plan, which was replaced with active bilateral cooperation between Georgia and the Alliance.

Since 2009, Georgia has been implementing the annual national program (ANP), which is also one of the instruments for the country's accession to NATO. The document prescribes the implementation of reforms that will bring Georgia as close as possible to the Alliance's standards.

At the NATO summit in Wales in September 2014, a Substantial package of measures was approved to assist Georgia in its quest for membership in the Alliance (SNGP). This is a set of measures to strengthen Georgia's defense capability and ensure closer defense cooperation and technical compatibility with NATO countries.

Since then, the country has been considered a "NATO graduate student". Moreover, there is talk in diplomatic circles that NATO can open up the prospect of Georgia joining the military-political bloc without putting forward an action Plan for membership. ANP and SNGP programs can be considered as the primary integration tool.

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