NATO foreign ministerial to focus on Black Sea security, support for Georgia, Ukraine
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NATO online foreign ministerial will kick off today with a focus on Black Sea security and ways to support NATO allies Georgia and Ukraine.
Before the start of the ministerial NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated that the Black Sea region is of strategic importance to the alliance.
The Black Sea region is of strategic importance to NATO and to all allies. The three NATO Allies – Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania – are coastal countries. We work closely with our valued partners, Georgia and Ukraine. Therefore, NATO maintains a significant presence in the Black Sea region, and will work more closely with Ukraine and Georgia,” Stoltenberg said.
He stated that ‘Russia continues to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of these two countries through the illegal annexation of Crimea and the presence of Russian troops in parts of Georgia.’
Stoltenberg said that NATO responded to Russia's behavior, ‘which continues to actively militarize the annexed Crimean peninsula, by stepping up political and practical support for Ukraine and Georgia to work together to strengthen security throughout the Black Sea region’.
We will discuss how we will address these issues together on Wednesday when we meet with the foreign ministers of the two partner countries," Stoltenberg said.
NATO foreign ministers will meet via secure video conference to discuss key issues for the alliance which include NATO’s continued adaptation, Russia’s military build-up, the rise of China, and NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg considers Georgia and Ukraine “two close partners” of the alliance in the Black Sea region. Stoltenberg made the remarks at a news briefing with Prime Minister of Romania Ludovic Orban on January 9.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said ahead of the Munich Security Conference yesterday that Georgia is “a close partner” of the alliance. “We work closely with Georgia. We support them on their efforts to implement reform, but we also welcome the fact that Georgia provides support to NATO in many different ways”, Stoltenberg stated.
Former deputy secretary general of NATO and US ex-ambassador to Russia Alexander Vershbow says that the creation of a new status for Georgia and Ukraine may push forward the countries’ NATO membership.
Former senior British military officer and the former Leader of the British Conservatives in the European Parliament Geoffrey van Orden says the process of Georgia’s joining the NATO is well underway.
A group of experts appointed by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg say in their recently released report that the alliance ‘should expand and strengthen partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia as the vulnerable democracies that seek membership and are under constant external and internal pressure from Russia’.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani, who is paying a working visit to Poland, met with his Polish counterpart Zbigniew Rau in Warsaw earlier today. Meanwhile, David Zalkaliani is taking part in the virtual NATO ministerial together with Zbigniew Rau from Poland.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at an online press conference following the NATO foreign ministerial today that ‘Georgia and Ukraine are valued NATO partners’. Noting that both countries ‘make important contributions’ to NATO missions, Stoltenberg said ‘today, we restated our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine’.
The Substantial NATO-Georgia Package (SNGP) has been updated following the NATO foreign ministerial yesterday, and NATO experts have called for strengthening partnership with ‘valued partners - Georgia and Ukraine’, Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated earlier today.
The Military Police of the Ministry of Defence of Georgia has become a partner of the NATO Multinational Military Police Battalion, in a move that brings it closer to full membership in the alliance structure.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the College of Europe in Bruges earlier today that ‘NATO’s door remains open’ for Georgia and Ukraine. Stoltenberg said that he was at the NATO summit in Bucharest back in 2008 when the alliance made a decision that Georgia and Ukraine will become its members but they ‘did not set any fixed date’.