Sachkheri base in Georgia to train NATO soldiers

The Sachkheri military base located in Western Georgia and intended for training mountain shooters (yagers) has received the status of PFP (Partnership for Peace), which gives it the right to train NATO soldiers.

According to the Ministry of Defence of Georgia, on July 12 Eric Fournier, French Ambassador to Georgia, and Nodar Kharshiladze, Deputy Minister of Defence of Georgia, visited the base.

The Deputy Minister said that now the military base in Sachkheri, which was built by France, will start training militaries from NATO countries. "Already in September a training programme for mountain shooters according to NATO standards will start," said Mr Kharshiladze.

The training under the guidance of the Georgian militaries, who in due course had been trained by French mountain shooters, will be organised for military units from Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Czech Republic, the "Georgia Online" reports.

Training of the contingent will be mainly conducted by the Georgian instructors who had been trained within the three-year programme by a team of experts from France.

The Sachkheri Mountain Training School received its PFP status several months ago. Training on the new standards will start this summer.

During their visit guests inspected the military base and got acquainted with the stages of school development, training programme and scheduled exercises for the attendees, the IA "News-Georgia" reports.