“We only heard empty promises and put ourselves at risk” - Georgian Dream criticizes relations with NATO
NATO–Georgia relations
The Chair of the parliamentary faction of Georgian Dream, Shalva Papuashvili, said that information about Georgia in NATO’s 2025 report points more to internal problems within the Alliance than to Tbilisi’s policy.
The report states that NATO has reviewed its cooperation with Georgia in light of the 2024 parliamentary elections and their outcome. Priorities were identified and certain areas of cooperation were revised, including specific aspects of the NATO–Georgia Substantial Package.
At the same time, the report emphasises that cooperation with the Georgian Defence Forces continues, as confirmed by joint exercises held in May. According to the report, NATO’s liaison office in Tbilisi continues to actively engage with partners in the South Caucasus.
Asked whether the ruling party was ready to take responsibility for the problematic aspects listed in the report, Papuashvili shifted the responsibility onto the Alliance itself. He said NATO should reconsider its policy since 2008 and the situation in which Georgia and Ukraine have found themselves.
“We listened to empty promises, put ourselves at risk, and received nothing in return,” he added. According to Shalva Papuashvili, the ongoing war has shown the real cost of cooperation, as, in his view, not a single NATO soldier is fighting in Ukraine.
In Papuashvili’s opinion, NATO’s problems are not limited to its relations with Georgia. He noted that similar criticism is also being voiced in the United States, where some argue that the Alliance does not adequately respond to the efforts of its partners.
“Given how much Georgia has done for NATO by participating in various missions, we do not see an adequate response,” Papuashvili concluded, adding that final decisions depend on the Alliance.
