NATO military committee on first visit to Georgia

      The NATO Military Committee on Tuesday started a two-day visit to the South Caucasus country of Georgia, after postponing it from November 2012. It is the first visit by the NATO's highest military authority. The NATO delegation, met by Chief of Joint Staff of Georgian Armed Forces, Major General Vakhtang Kapanadze, at the airport, is scheduled to meet with the Georgian president and prime minister before having its 28+1 meeting with Georgia on Wednesday General Knud Bartels, head of the NATO Military Committee, said at the airport that the fact that his committee is in Tbilisi is a clear sign of NATO's support for reforms of Georgia. Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Alasania said that the visit is very important as it will be a good opportunity for NATO to look into the reforms in Georgian armed forces and assess the country's readiness for making next step on its NATO integration path. The NATO military committee originally planned the Tbilisi visit for November 2012 but postponed it after the South Caucasus country's legislative polls held on Oct. 1 that year.