James Appathurai: Georgians are stubborn, they do not give up, they go forward and continue to fight until they achieve what they want

"You can be sure that NATO will continue to support your efforts to protect you, your territorial integrity and to continue moving towards the NATO door and enter that door," said James Appathurai, NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for Central Asia.

According to Appathurai, Georgia is moving towards NATO and its membership.

"I know that sometimes there are narratives saying that it does not work, we cannot get there, there will be no NATO membership, but when I look at Georgia now, I see highly professional armed forces, trained, experienced, professional armed forces, well-functioning Ministry of Defense, well-functioning intelligence service. I see NATO facilities on the territory of Georgia, daily exercises. I see institutional building every day, I see the US Armed Forces, which are training here, and NATO, which is also training here. I see NATO ships entering Georgian ports. This happens on a daily basis and the Georgian Armed Forces work with NATO forces on a daily basis and they help Georgia move towards NATO. I know that change was carried out, is being carried out now and will continue in the future too and I will continue to support it.

I also want to focus on how much I respect and love this country and the people of this country. It would be very easy to choose another path, an easier path to solve the security difficulties in this region, but Georgians shared our values, they want to move towards the EU and NATO, and if I have heard anything about Georgians, it is that Georgians are stubborn. Georgians do not give up, they go forward, they continue to fight until they achieve what they want, and in this case it is membership of the Western family, not only by sharing values, but also institutionally. I will continue to support this effort. I believe that we have one home and you are part of our family, just like we are part of your family. You can be sure that I will return, but you can also be sure that NATO will continue to support your efforts to be safe, to maintain territorial integrity, and to continue moving towards NATO door and to enter that door," Appathurai said.