Twenty Georgian professionals stationed on Greek ships will participate in the NATO Sea Guardian maritime operations between September 16-29, the Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed on Thursday, citing a ratification of its agreement with a Greek agency by the legislative body earlier this year.

Greek was the first country that expressed readiness to accept Georgian professionals from the tactical unit of the country’s Coast Guard on its ships for the operation that kicked off in 2016 to ensure maritime security capacity-building, support to situational awareness and maritime counter-terrorism in the Mediterranean, the body said.

It noted the move came following the successful completion of NATO’s four-year-evaluation progrramme by Georgian professionals, allowing Georgia to become the first from the alliance’s non-member states to obtain a partner status in the operation.