Georgia's parliamentary elections in October would be fully "transparent," President Mikheil Saakashvili said Tuesday, and urged the international community to deploy observers in preparation for the polls.

"Usually countries try to avoid - especially in my region - all kind of international intrusion in their election process," he said during a visit to NATO in Brussels. "We want it in order to make the whole thing sustainable and institution-building irreversible."

NATO has required the country to implement democratic reforms as part of its bid to join the military alliance.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Tuesday said Georgia had already made "clear progress," and that the elections would be "an important test for Georgia's democracy and a chance to show how far you have come."

He highlighted the country's involvement in the military operations in Afghanistan, adding that by the end of the year it will be providing the largest contingent of troops by a non-NATO country.

"In all, Georgia is a model partner," Rasmussen said.

He rejected elections that have been held in the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which have fueled tensions between Georgia and neighbouring Russia.

"Let me reaffirm that the alliance recognizes Georgia's territorial integrity and its sovereignty," Rasmussen said. "The holding of these elections does not contribute to a peaceful and lasting settlement of the situation in Georgia."

Russia recognizes Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent countries, and went to war with Georgia over the two regions in 2008, asserting their right to independence. Georgia considers the two territories to be occupied.