Defender-23 military exercises to be conducted without Georgia’s participation

Tbilisi, May 2 – The Georgian Ministry of Defense said in a statement that the Georgian side will not participate in the Defender-23 multinational military exercise this year.

“With regard to Georgia’s participation in the Defender 2023 exercise, based on the goals and objectives of the Defense Forces, through effective communication with our main strategic partner, it was decided to direct more efforts and resources to such international and national exercises that serve the objectives, including increasing combat readiness, increased interoperability with NATO member states and partners, exchange of experience and improvement of professional skills.

The Defense Ministry added that the defense forces are constantly participating and conducting international exercises to improve combat capability. Including the annual large-scale multinational joint exercises of Georgia and the United States, such as Noble Partner and Agile Spirit.

The agency notes that, together with NATO member states and its partners, this year Georgia has already participated in four international exercises that took place in Turkey, Germany, Slovakia and the Netherlands. Also, before the end of the year, training courses are planned in Turkey, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, England, Germany, Azerbaijan, Italy and Georgia itself, where the Georgian army will participate.

Major US-led Defender-23 military exercises in Europe began on April 22 and will continue for two months.