The ruling Georgian Dream deputy and parliament vice-speaker, Nino Tsilosani, said that the USA's decision to postpone military training in Georgia was surprising and that it "hurts a lot" to the USA as well.
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"We cannot evaluate this positively. However, I would also like to say that these exercises are not of one-sided interest.
Of course, such activities provide specific benefits to the Georgian military forces, but these exercises have always been held within the framework of mutual interest, and I think that this decision hurts the other side quite a bit.
The reality is that this period is a way and a time to rethink certain situations. From our side, it has been announced many times that we expect our partners to 'restart' relations, i.e., start anew, with better conditions. I would like and hope that the relations between Georgia and the USA will change for the better," Tsilosani said.
Noble Partner is a military exercise jointly managed by the Georgian Defense Forces and the US Army European Command, hosted by the Vaziani and Norio training bases in Georgia since 2016. Tina Khidasheli, the Minister of Defense of Georgia in 2015-2016, says that "Worthy Partner" is one of the important components of Georgian-American military relations.
"Disruption or suspension of this component means that a similar rule will apply to all directions of military cooperation, and it will be a disaster for the Georgian army. This will definitely have a snowball effect in relation to the European countries that are members of NATO, and then we will remain at the mercy of Russia and China. Then Irakli Kobakhidze should lead the exercises and salute the Georgian army together with the Chinese Liberation Army," said Tina Khidasheli.
Noble Partner was supposed to start on July 25; however, on July 5, the US Department of Defense announced that it had decided to postpone it indefinitely. “The decision to postpone this iteration of NOBLE PARTNER is due to the Georgian government's false accusations against the United States and other western entities, to pressure Georgia to open a second front against Russia to alleviate pressure on Ukraine, and of participating in two coup attempts against the ruling party. As such, the United States Government has determined that this is an inappropriate time to hold a large-scale military exercise in Georgia,” Pentagon explained.
