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NATO ships to pull into Poti port on April 1, says Georgian border police

A joint exercise with Georgian coast guard is due on April 4

TBILISI, March 29. /TASS/. Four ships of the Standing NATO Maritime Group Two (SNMG2) will pull into Georgia’s port of Poti (Western Georgia), on April 1, the press-service of Georgia’s border police told TASS on Friday.

"Four NATO ships will arrive in Poti on April 1. The flagship is The Netherlands’ HNLMS Evertsen," border police spokeswoman said.

A joint exercise with Georgian coast guard is due on April 4. The ships are to leave Georgia afterwards.

NATO ships visit Georgia’s territorial waters regularly. Last time such a visit took place in January, when the US destroyer The Donald Cook armed with guided missiles visited the port of Batumi (the autonomous republic of Ajaria).

In recent years NATO paid growing attention to security matters in the Black Sea and was obviously eager to see Georgia plugged into this process.

Russia is firmly against wider Georgia-NATO contacts and the alliance’s expansion towards its borders. Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin earlier said efforts by the United States and other NATO countries to militarize Georgia caused great concern in the region and by no means enhanced Georgia’s own security.

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