Dr. Khatuna Burkadze, a research fellow at Geocase underlines that the Black Sea security gains more relevance for the cooperation between Georgia and NATO. The high-level meetings at the NATO Headquarters indicate Georgia’s strategic importance in the region.

‘This momentum is right to renew the NATO-Georgia substantial package, which is the crucial instrument of the integration process. Nevertheless, an in-depth analysis of the current situation illustrates that renewing substantial package or developing other initiatives will not be sufficient. Georgia’s integration into NATO should be accelerated to deliver the promise made at the Bucharest Summit twelve years ago,’ - Dr. Khatuna Burkadze adds.

In the context of European integration, Dr. Khatuna Burkadze mentions that the two agreements regarding 129 million EURO aid to Georgia, signed in Brussels, demonstrate that the EU is a strategic partner of Georgia both in a crisis and during peace. EU’s wide-ranging assistance to Georgia aims at making effective Covid-19 resilience measures.

‘The Eastern Partnership Summit of 2021 would be pivotal to articulate political ambitions and effectively use the principle of ‘More for More,’ therefore, providing Georgia with opportunities for its European integration’, - Dr. Khatuna Burkadze underlines.

Professor Burkadze notes that Georgia should have a political guarantee to become a fully-fledged member of the European Union to start and complete the membership process.

Source: https://www.interpressnews.ge/en/article/109648-khatuna-burkadze-georgia-deserves-more-on-its-way-of-nato-and-eu-integration