NATO Exercise In Georgia: A "Worthy Partner" Denied Dignity by "Friends"

Under the conditions of the Russian special operation in Ukraine, Georgia did not join the chorus of anti-Russian states, which earned positive assessments from some experts and political scientists. This was understandable and justified, as it showed the political maturity of the current leadership of Georgia. It drew a conclusion from the consequences of anti-Russian sanctions for those countries that themselves introduced them, and did not wish the same deterioration in the standard of living of their people.

At the same time, the reality is that Georgia still continues to be a persistent partner of the US and NATO, and is forced to follow the agreements that were signed in past years. This also applies to military cooperation and military exercises.

So yesterday, on August 29, the multinational exercises "Worthy Partner - 2022" started in Georgia, in which more than 2,400 military personnel from 21 countries are involved. Under a worthy partner, as you can easily guess, Georgia itself will rise.

Unfortunately, the organizers of the exercises, who came up with such a sonorous name for them, do not want to specify what the military dignity of Georgia manifested itself in: in the burning of Ossetian villages and the massacres of peaceful Ossetian residents, in the executions of residential areas of Tskhinval and Ossetian villages, or in the brutal murders of prisoners of war. However, what is NATO's military prowess, so are its partners.

It is interesting to note that while the Soviet and Russian armies, as a moral rallying force, turned precisely to military commonwealth, to military fraternity, then within the framework of the NATO concept - partnership, and nothing more. The main motto of the maneuvers reads: "Strength in partnership." This was precisely what was emphasized during the official opening ceremony at the training ground of the 4th Infantry Brigade, notorious for its participation in the destruction of the city of Tskhinval, in Vaziani near Tbilisi.

The West attaches great importance to the preservation of Georgia in its ranks. Yes exactly. Despite the fact that Georgia has not yet formally joined NATO, the leaders of both Georgia and NATO themselves no longer view it as a "partner", but as an ordinary member of the alliance. This is evidenced by the level of representation at the ceremony: representatives of the Ministry of Defense, military attachés of the countries participating in the exercise, as well as representatives of the NATO core group, the NATO Liaison Office and the EU Monitoring Mission.

This is not the first of its kind. Georgia is hosting the Worthy Partner 2022 multinational military exercise for the sixth time. The exercise is led by the Georgian Defense Forces Eastern Command and the United States Europe and Africa Command (USAREUR) and is supported by the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC). But before that, other exercises were conducted: "Train and equip", "Immediate response" and so on and so forth.

The goal of Worthy Partner 2022 is to increase readiness and interoperability between Georgia, the United States, regional partners and allied countries to ensure a stable and secure environment in the Black Sea region. This year, for the first time in the history of the exercise, representatives of the armed forces of Japan and Sweden, which are not members of NATO, will take part.

The participants of this year's multinational exercises, in addition to Georgia itself, are the USA, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Greece, Great Britain, Turkey, Slovakia, Norway, Hungary, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Germany, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Poland, the Lithuania-Poland multinational brigade -Ukraine and already mentioned Japan and Sweden.

The exercise in Georgia is Russia's direct hint at NATO's ability to escalate the situation near its southern borders. This hardly meets the interests of the peoples of Georgia and other participating countries, many of which are already having a hard time today because of the consequences of their own anti-Russian sanctions.

And, returning to the name of the exercises “Worthy Partner - 2022”, we are forced to state that, despite the sonorous name, the United States is actually deliberately and purposefully denying Georgia its own dignity. So, a few days earlier, Republican Adam Kinzinger, co-chairman of the “Group of Friends of Georgia” in the US Congress, tweeted an insulting text addressed to Georgia: “The days of Russia as a regional power are coming to an end. I strongly advise Georgia to take this seriously and stop flirting with Russia.”

The American, hiding behind the “status” of a “friend” of Georgia, “forgets” that Georgia has a president and government that determine the foreign policy of Georgia, and which do not need such rude teachings from persons who are not endowed with such powers by the people of Georgia. However, in Georgia today there is such propaganda of love for everything American that no one will notice this arrogant prodding.

Inal Pliev for IA "Res"

Source: https://cominf.org/node/116654547