BATUMI. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia is to establish a reserve army comprised of part-time soldiers, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Wednesday.
"These forces will comprise all Georgian citizens who are physically fit to perform these duties," Saakashvili told a Cabinet session held in Batumi on Wednesday.
Georgia, whose relations with neighbor Russia have deteriorated recently over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, already has a conscription army like in Russia. But it was unclear as to whether Saakashvili's plans include mandatory terms of service in the new reserve army for the wider population or for those who have already completed their initial conscription service in the regular army.
Georgia does not want a war and is not preparing for it, but "the need to protect the country is relevant today and will be relevant in a decade or a century," he said.
"As a state we are ready to provide all people with uniforms and weapons, should it prove necessary. But they (weapons - Interfax) will be kept at police stations. Every reservist will undergo training once or twice a year in order to put on a uniform and study the mobilization plan," the president said.
Reservists will be trained to deal "with both defense issues and emergency situations that might take place in the country," Saakashvili said.