Airis Rikveilis, the head of the public relations department at the Latvian ministry of defence, said that the three countries were trying to impart their knowledge at a two-day meeting in the Latvian capital which started on Tuesday.

"We are three countries, which went through the whole process (of joining from the moment we left the Soviet Union," Rikveilis said.

"We have acquired experience in various issues, starting from establishment of defence systems to the adaption to NATO documents and the use of procedures in the NATO system. This is experience, that Georgia can use."

Present at the meeting were delegations from the defence ministries of the three Baltic states, Latvia's foreign ministry, and a three-strong delegation from Georgia's defence ministry and national security council.

Georgia, which has a border with southern Russia and notably with Russia's troubled republic of Chechnya, officially applied to become a NATO member in November.

In May NATO Secretary General George Robertson visited Georgia and said he saw the country as "the key ally" in the Caucasus region. However he warned that preparations for joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization could be long and arduous.

The three Baltic states were among seven ex-communist countries invited to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation at its Prague summit in November.

WAR.WIRE