On 3 September, the former Commander-in-Chief of the US Armed Forces in Europe General Ben Hodges made a statement on Twitter saying that Georgia should become a NATO member, reported report.ge. 

“Georgia should be a Member of NATO now. Black Sea should be the top regional priority for NATO now. The Kremlin uses the Black Sea and its illegally annexed Crimean bases as the 'launching pad' for its malign efforts in Syria and Libya,” he wrote. 

In the past few weeks many former NATO Generals voiced their vocal support for Georgia becoming a member of the alliance, including James Stavridis who said that Georgia’s chances to join the alliance would increase if Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) are perceived as frozen conflicts and Philip Mark Breedlove, who widely praised the country’s engagement in the alliance (Caucasus Watch reported).