Georgia is extremely important to Europe and the United States, – former Secretary-General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the international conference organized by the McCain Institute and the Economic Policy Research Center (EPRC) in Tbilisi.

As he stated, from a strategic point of view, Georgia has a very important location in terms of energy.

“From a strategic point of view, Georgia has a very important location in terms of energy, energy pipelines. This is an important corridor for Russia and Europe, and it is very important for us that Georgia continues its path on reforms and its aspiration to join the European Union and NATO, ” – the former Secretary-General of NATO said.

As Anders Fogh Rasmussen noted, Georgia is one of the major contributors to the NATO mission in Afghanistan and its contribution to NATO is invaluable.

At the conference, he also spoke about the NATO mission in Afghanistan. “I don’t think neither NATO nor the US will draw from Afghanistan in the near future. Unfortunately, we have to stay in Afghanistan until we finish our work. This is not completed yet, so we have to stay, ” – the former NATO secretary-general said.

He said the focus should be made on training the local security forces to enable them to take over the responsibility for security themselves. “We are not an occupying force. We will leave the country as soon as the appropriate conditions are established” – he added.