UK calls NATO to support military development in Georgia
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should support non-member countries to build up their defensive capabilities to allow them to protect their region.
With this statement, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron made an emphatic plea to NATO to support its allies.
In an open letter to NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and country leaders of 27 other NATO members on August 2, the UK leader said NATO needed to sustain a "robust" defensive presence in Eastern Europe.
He said in this current unpredictable world, NATO should adapt to respond and deter such threats against non-member countries, and offered five areas where NATO should pay special attention.
One of the goals was to encourage non-member countries to strengthen their own security.
"In Wales [at the NATO Summit in September] I would like us to agree on new defence capacity building missions to other parts of the world, for example in Georgia or the Middle East,” Cameron said in his letter.
He believed NATO needed to rethink its long-term relationship with Russia and strengthen NATO’s ability to quickly respond to any threat.
Meanwhile, there is less than six weeks until the NATO Summit in Wales – held on September 4 and 5. All 28 NATO member states and four aspirant countries, including Georgia, will participate in the event.
NATO earlier said Georgia would not be offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP) but would be offered an "unprecedented package” that would offer the country greater support.
Elements of the "an unprecedented package” which Georgia will be offered from NATO is already revealed by NATO Secretary General Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia James Appathurai.
Russia is challenging international order by stirring up conflict in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine, says a top NATO representative.
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.
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.
Head of the NATO Alliance Office in Georgia, William Lahew, believed the differing perspectives of NATO member countries was complicating the decision to grant Georgia a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the NATO Summit in Wales.
Georgia is working hard to strengthen its defensive capabilities although more could still be done to ensure regional security, says the country’s Foreign Affairs Minister Maia Panjikidze.
A Georgian delegation, led by President Giorgi Margvelashvili, has left for the United Kingdom to take part in the NATO Summit in Wales on September 4 and 5.