Tbilisi: Brigadier General Edward Vaughan of the United States European Command has showered praises on the steps taken as part of the Georgia Defence and Deterrence Enhancement Initiative.
The agreements on this had been signed last year during his last visit to the country to assess the mechanism that eyes upon modernizing and developing the Georgian Defence Forces along with support from the United States.
As per the Georgian Defence Ministry, Edward Vaughan had met with Deputy Defence Minister Lela Chikovani, with representatives of United States European Command, the Pentagon and the US Embassy as well.
The parties positively evaluated the progress of the initiative to strengthen defence and deterrence [capability] of Georgia and discussed steps for future cooperation”, the Ministry said. Laura Cooper, the US Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defence for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, also marked their presence at the meeting remotely. Cooper had also given positive feedback on the progress of the initiative.
A Memorandum of Understanding (Mou) was signed between US Secretary of Defence Lloyd Austin and Defence Minister of Georgia Juansher Burchuladze on the Georgia Defence and Deterrence Enhancement Initiative in October 2021, while the US official visited Georgia for the first time.
The Georgian Defence and Deterrence Enhancement is an extension of Georgia’s Defence Readiness Programme. The programme provided US support for Georgia’s defence capabilities throughout, for a period of more than three years.
About Georgian Defence and Deterrence Enhancement Initiative (GDDEI)
The GDDEI is a bilateral US-Georgia Security cooperation initiative that aims to modernize and develop Georgian Defense Forces and Ministry of Defence.
:: The GDDEI symbolizes the commitment of the US to Georgia and the importance of the US-Georgia strategic partnership.
:: It is an extension of Georgia Defense Readiness Programme (GDRP) progress that would strengthen the military-to-military relationship between Georgia and US.
:: GDDEI has two major components; of which The First component focuses on building Georgia’s institutional capacity in the defence sector, while The Second component on strengthening GDF capabilities in training and deployment of brigades in combined arms operations for territorial defence.
