We count on Georgia to ensure next month’s elections meet the highest international standards. This is important for Georgia, and for NATO, - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said after a meeting with Prime Minister of Georgia Giorgi Gakharia.

“I encourage you to continue making full use of all the opportunities for coming closer to NATO. And to prepare for membership. We count on Georgia to ensure next month’s elections meet the highest international standards. This is important for Georgia, and for NATO”, he said.

The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Georgia is one of NATO’s most important partners, contributing to the Alliance’s shared security in many ways, including with troops in NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan.

“We can all be proud of what we do together and you can be proud of your contributions to our shared security and contributions to our missions and operations”, he said.

According to the Secretary General, at the meeting today we also discussed the close cooperation between Georgia and NATO on the Black Sea security.

"Earlier this year, Allies agreed to strengthen our partnership even further. This includes sharing more air traffic radar data, working jointly to address hybrid threats, as well as doing joint exercises in the Black Sea region", he said.