NATO experts: NATO should expand, strengthen partnerships with Ukraine, Georgia
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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’.
The document says that since the end of the Cold War, NATO has attempted to build a ‘meaningful partnership’ with Russia, based on dialogue and practical cooperation in areas of common interest.
But Russia’s aggression against Georgia and Ukraine, followed by its ongoing military build-ups and assertive activity in the Baltic and Black Sea regions, in the Eastern Mediterranean, Baltic, and in the High North, have led to a sharp deterioration in the relationship and negatively impacted the security of the Euro-Atlantic area,” said the report, adding that Russia ‘routinely engages’ in intimidatory military operations in the immediate vicinity of NATO and has enhanced its reach and capabilities for threatening airspace and freedom of navigation in the Atlantic
Document of vital importance, once again stressing #NATO's Open Door Policy & staunch support 4 ????????, has been launched by NATO SG experts. It is tremendously significant 4 our further stable development & regional security. Grateful 2 #Alliance & SG @jensstoltenberg 4 support.
— David Zalkaliani (@DZalkaliani) December 2, 2020
The document says that the Russian government ‘seeks hegemony over its former Soviet possessions and undermines their sovereignty and territorial integrity’, seeking to block the path of nations that want to move towards NATO.
NATO should seek to expand and strengthen partnerships with Ukraine and Georgia as vulnerable democracies that seek membership and are under constant external and internal pressure from Russia,” said the report.
At the NATO meeting of heads of state and government in London in December 2019, alliance leaders asked Stoltenberg to undertake a forward-looking reflection process to assess ways to strengthen the political dimension of the alliance.
To this end, in April 2020, Stoltenberg appointed an independent Reflection Group co-chaired by Thomas de Maiziere and A. Wess Mitchell and consisting of John Bew, Greta Bossenmaier, Anja Dalgaard-Nielsen, Marta Dassu, Anna Fotyga, Tacan Ildem, Hubert Védrine, and Herna Verhagen.
The group of experts presented their report during NATO foreign ministerial on December 1.
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.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo mentioned the Russian occupation of Georgia in his speech at the Munich Security Conference yesterday. "Russia has seized Crimea and parts of Eastern Ukraine and Georgia", Pompeo stated.
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.
NATO online foreign ministerial will kick off today with a focus on Black Sea security and ways to support NATO allies Georgia and Ukraine.
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.