NATO to mark 70th anniversary, pledges to continue work with three aspirant states
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg says that the alliance continues to grow. Photo: NATO.
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NATO will mark its 70th anniversary on April 4.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that the alliance may have changed many times, but it has maintained its key value - the commitment of its member nations to protect and defend one another.
He said that since the end of the Cold War, NATO has nearly doubled its membership — from 16 member nations in 1989, to 30 when North Macedonia will become a full member.
NATO’s door remains open. We continue to work with the three aspirant countries — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine — to bring them closer,” he said.
He has stated many times that it is solely up to Georgia to decide with whom to cooperate.
This year is expected to be special in NATO-Georgia relations, with Stoltenberg visiting the country at the end of the month.
The largest ever NATO-Georgia military exercise has already kicked off near Tbilisi, with 24 countries involved.
The NATO-Georgia Exercise 2019 has started today at the NATO-Georgia Joint Training and Evaluation Center (JTEC), National Training Center Krtsanisi, near Tbilisi, Georgia. The exercise is comprised of 21 allied nations and three NATO partner nations, including Georgia as the host nation.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in his annual report that “Georgia is a critical partner for the Alliance” and that the allies “have consistently reaffirmed their commitment to Georgia’s eventual membership”.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has stated that he will visit Georgia, which is a “unique partner of NATO”, in March 2019, during the NATO-Georgia joint military drills, in which 17 NATO member states will participate.
Georgian Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze has stated at the international Georgian Defence and Security Conference in Tbilisi today that Georgia’s integration into NATO is the guarantee of peace and security in the country.
The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Tbilisi on March 24-25. Stoltenberg will meet with President Salome Zurabishvili, Prime Minister Mamuka Bakhtadze, Parliament Speaker Irakli Kobakhidze and other high-level officials.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hopes Georgia can soon be welcomed into NATO, and praises the progress achieved by the country. He also urges Russia to withdraw its forces from Georgian territories.
Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, will be in Georgia this week, as high-ranking leaders of the alliance continue their official visits to the country.
Former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen says that it is time Georgia start discussions on whether or not to join the alliance with its 5th article on collective defence covering only the Tbilisi-administered territory.
President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Madeleine Moon, who is on official visit to Georgia, says that cooperation with Georgia is of high importance for the assembly she chairs. She vowed to broadly speak about Georgia’s progress towards NATO during the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in October.
Georgian President Salome Zurabishvili, Parliament Speaker Archil Talakvadze and Defence Minister Irakli Garibashvili have spoken about the occupation of Georgian territories by Russia at the 13th Georgia Defence and Security Conference (GDSC) earlier today. Zurabishvili said that the occupation of 20 per cent of Georgian lands by Russia and the creeping occupation “is a daily security challenge for us, which may turn into a more serious conflict anytime.”