Foreign Countries Freeze Long-Term Support Programmes For Georgian Armed Forces

David Tevzadze, the Georgia Defence Minister, reported that all foreign long-term support programmes including those of the United States, for the Georgian Armed Forces had been frozen. Speaking on Wednesday at a session of the parliamentary defence and security committee, the head of the defence office pointed out that the programmes had been frozen following the terror acts in Washington and New York on September 11. According to Tevzadze, this fact will affect the time-frame for implementing the plan to build up the Georgian Armed Forces. It was previously planned that this process would be completed within 4-5 years. No details concerning the reasons why the programmes are frozen, have been reported.