Since U.S.-educated President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in the South Caucasus republic, it has been seeking to join NATO and the European Union and reduce its dependence on Russia, including in energy.
"We have made an important decision by passing a declaration on Georgia's accession to NATO," Giorgi Baramidze said. "The document shows unity across the political spectrum on integration into the alliance."
Baramidze informed NATO's Jean Fournet about Georgia's progress in meeting the obligations it had assumed under the Intensive Dialogue partnership program.
Fournet said it was important to tell Georgian people about NATO and explain what it actually does.
Fournet is expected to inaugurate a NATO library in Georgia's Strategic Research and International Relations Foundation for Georgians to have access to NATO documents and publications.
NATO libraries have already been opened in Kazakhstan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Slovakia, Croatia, and France.
Georgia expects integration with NATO to help it restore control over its two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and to replace Russian and ex-Soviet peacekeepers in the area with an international contingent.
"Membership of the alliance will help Georgia resolve all outstanding problems, including the most painful one - restoration of its territorial integrity," Nino Burdzhanadze, parliamentary speaker, said Tuesday. "This organization is the only guarantor of stability and peace in the region."
