Georgian Defense Minister, Tina Khidasheli, has left for Brussels to visit NATO headquarters for a meeting of defense ministers from the alliance members and Afghanistan mission contributor nations on June 25.

With 885 soldiers Georgia is the second largest troop contributor to NATO’s Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan.

Khidasheli told journalists before departure early on Wednesday morning that she will also have more than dozen of bilateral meetings with her counterparts from the NATO member states.

Speaking at a meeting with civil society representatives on June 22, Khidasheli said that the Georgia will be firm in its demand towards NATO to grant the country Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the next summit of the alliance in Warsaw in 2016.
 
“Our people deserve to know precisely and to be sure that its government aims at maximum results,” the Georgian Defense Minister said on June 22.

“I am not going to tone down demands,” she said. “Georgia fights and does its utmost to move substantially on a new level of relationship with NATO at the Warsaw summit and we will be constantly in communication with the people – and not just by making statements that we want MAP – but also through reporting [to the public] all those specific issues that we are undertaking on this path.”

This is Khidasheli’s second visit to NATO HQ since taking defense minister’s office in early May.