Georgia hosts NATO drills despite cooling ties with the West

Georgia hosts NATO drills despite cooling ties with the West
by AFP Staff Writers
Tbilisi (AFP) July 25, 2025
Georgia on Friday hosted major multinational military exercises with NATO troops, despite its government facing growing accusations of drifting away from a pro-Western path and edging closer to Russia's orbit.

The Caucasus nation's NATO membership bid is enshrined in its constitution and was endorsed by the alliance in 2008, but in recent years, the country's perceived democratic backsliding has placed it increasingly at odds with the West.

The exercise, held near the capital Tbilisi, is part of a broader series of joint drills running from July 21 to August 8 across Georgia and Turkey, the defence ministry said in a statement.

Dubbed Agile Spirit, the biennial drills bring together over 2,000 troops from ten nations, including more than 800 US servicemen, as well as soldiers from Turkey, Germany, Romania, Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania, Moldova, and Ukraine.

The exercise began with a joint airborne operation near Adana, Turkey, where US paratroopers jumped alongside Turkish troops, according to US Army Europe and Africa command.

It said the exercise "underscores the US commitment to security and stability in the Black Sea region and highlights the importance of strong alliances and partnerships in addressing shared security challenges."

In Georgia, the drills will include field training, live-fire exercises, a command post operation with the Lithuanian-Polish-Ukrainian Brigade, and special operations forces activities.

Despite the 2008 Bucharest summit declaration that Georgia would one day join the alliance, the country has yet to be placed on a formal path to membership.

Shortly after the summit, Georgia was invaded by its neighbor and former Soviet power Russia, which still occupies about 20 percent of its territory.

US announces $4 bn loan guarantee for Poland military purchases
Washington (AFP) July 25, 2025 - The United States announced Friday that it is providing a $4 billion loan guarantee for the purchase of American military equipment by Poland, which borders both Russia and war-torn Ukraine.

"Poland remains one of America's strongest and most dependable allies in Europe -- a front-line nation on NATO's Eastern Flank and a leader in defense investment," State Department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said in a statement announcing the Foreign Military Financing (FMF) for Warsaw.

Poland, a member of NATO, has been a key partner of Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of that country in February 2022.

Fearing threats from Russia, Poland has for several years rapidly modernized its military, signing a string of arms contracts, mainly with the United States and South Korea.

It has already earmarked 4.7 percent of its GDP for military expenditure this year, and next year it aims to raise it further.

Bruce noted in her statement that Poland has made several major purchases of US weapons, including Apache attack helicopters, HIMARS rocket systems and Patriot air defense.