NATO continues “active dialogue” with Georgia
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NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is confident the NATO Summit in Wales will appropriately recognize Georgia’s progress.
Rasmussen believed the country had made "good progress”, especially in making the defence and security sectors more transparent and accountable.
"Let me make it clear that we stand by the decision we made at our Bucharest Summit in 2008,” said the Secretary General at the NATO-Georgia Commission with Defence Ministers in Brussels today.
"Georgia will be a member of NATO, provided that it fulfils the requirements of membership.”
"We look forward to further implementation of reforms and we will continue to assist you in this process,” Rasmussen told Georgia’s Defence Minister Irakli Alasania.
He noted Alliance Foreign Ministers would discuss Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO at their meeting later this month.
Rasmussen could not say for certain if Georgia would receive a Membership Action Plan (MAP) but said he was "confident that our next summit will recognize Georgia’s progress".
The NATO leader said the crisis caused by Russia’s aggression against Ukraine had repercussions for Georgia, its region and Euro-Atlantic security.
"NATO Allies do not, and will not, recognize Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea. And neither do we accept Russia’s recognition of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia as independent states,” Rasmussen said.
NATO headquarters in Belgium hosted a meeting attended by Defence Ministers of member and partner countries of the Alliance on June 3-4. Alasania was one of the meeting participants.
There, Ministers reviewed collective defence measures in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine crisis and discussed preparations for the upcoming NATO summit in Wales.
During his time abroad, Alasania was set to hold bilateral meetings with his British, Ukrainian, Danish, Belgian and Turkish counterparts.
Alasania was also expected to attend the meeting of the North Atlantic Council with non-NATO ISAF Contributing Nations with other Defence Ministers.
The Czech Republic firmly supports Georgia’s NATO integration and hopes the upcoming NATO Summit in Wales will appropriately recognize the country’s progress.
In an interview with Reuters, Georgia’s Minister of Defence said he was hopeful the country would receive a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to further its relationship with NATO at the upcoming NATO Summit in Wales.
A positive report of Georgia and the success of its recent local elections could play an important part in the country’s future relationship with NATO.
Georgia's Foreign Minister said Rasmussen "abosolutely agreed” that Georgia had made significant progress in recent years and that it should be adequately praised from the Alliance.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has agreed in principle to offer "a substantive package” to Georgia to help it come closer to NATO but made no mention of membership.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Georgia will not be offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the NATO Summit in Wales in September.
On the opening day of the NATO Summit in Wales, Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelashvili met NATO’s top official and spoke briefly on the support package NATO will offer Georgia in the next two days.