No membership step for Georgia at NATO Wales Summit
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the NATO Summit in Wales in September "will not be about Membership Action Plan” (MAP) for Georgia.
But Rasmussen was confident "a substantive package” would be offered to Georgia, which would help it come closer to NATO.
At a news conference in Brussels, Rasmussen said the package would offer "more support to bring Georgia closer to NATO”.
Rasmussen and 28 Foreign Affairs Ministers of the Alliance are currently holding meetings in Brussels. He did not clarify the nature of the package and said he was unable to outline specifics of the package at this stage.
"It will be a substantive package. NATO member countries will work on that package in close collaboration with Georgia from now until the Summit,” Rasmussen added.
Earlier today, Rasmussen announced NATO had agreed in principle to offer "a substantive package” to Georgia while also highlighting the Alliance’s door remained open to new members.
The Secretary General believed the decision NATO took in Bucharest in 2008 still stood and "Georgia would become a member of NATO” one day, provided the country fulfilled all necessary conditions.
"And the package we will prepare for the Summit will bring Georgia closer to NATO,” Rasmussen added.
In recent years Rasmussen has several times mentioned that NATO stood behind the decision made at the Bucharest Summit in 2008, that the MAP should be the next step for Georgia on its "direct way to membership”. Georgia did not receive a MAP then but those at the Bucharest Summit pledged that Georgia will join NATO sometime in the future.
After German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Rasmussen was the second NATO official in recent months to clearly announce that granting Georgia a MAP would not be on the agenda at the September NATO Summit in Wales.
Merkel, after meeting Georgia’s Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili in Berlin on June 2, said the achieved progress of Georgia as a NATO aspirant country should be praised at the international event.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen is confident the NATO Summit in Wales will appropriately recognize Georgia’s progress.
A Georgian Master-Sergeant has been awarded a prestigious US medal for outstanding service to the military in a ceremony today at the Master-Sergeant National Training Centre Krtsanisi.
Georgia’s participation in United Nations peacekeeping operations is being discussed between Georgia’s Defence Minister and a UN representative at the UN headquarters in New York.
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.
NATO’s regional envoy for the Caucasus region has offered his reassurances to the Georgian nation that the country will become more secure following the NATO Summit in Wales later this year.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) should support non-member countries to build up their defensive capabilities to allow them to protect their region.
The NATO Summit meeting in Wales comes at a critical time in the Alliance’s history – when the global security environment is becoming increasingly unpredictable and unstable, says NATO.
With six days to go until Georgia participates in the NATO Summit in Wales, Georgian high officials are looking forward to positive outcomes from the annual meeting.
NATO may hold military exercises in Georgia and establish a military training centre in the country, see more Georgian participation in NATO exercises and possibly expand the local NATO liaison office - a top NATO official said.
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.
The State Minister of Georgia for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration Alex Petriashvili explains the meaning of the package being offered by NATO (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) to Georgia at the NATO Summit in the United Kingdom.
The President of Georgia participated in a meeting of leaders of ISAF countries at the NATO Summit in Wales last night and addressed the audience.
More details of the NATO support package being offered to Georgia at this week’s NATO Summit has been revealed by Georgia’s Minister of Defence Irakli Alasania at a conference for budding young leaders from all over the globe.
‘NATO will assist Georgia, Jordan and Iraq’, is the pledge British Prime Minister David Cameron made today at a meeting on the second day of the NATO Summit in Wales.
Georgia’s President Giorgi Margvelasvili is rubbing shoulders with world leaders at the NATO Summit in Wales, United Kingdom.
Georgia’s efforts have been recognised by NATO leaders at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Summit in Wales. NATO officials praised Georgia for its efforts to progress its nation and reconfirmed its intentions to one day invite Georgia into the Alliance.
The NATO Summit in Wales has ended and the President of Georgia is leaving on a high note. Giorgi Margvelashvili commended the UK Government for its "gracious hospitality and excellent organisation of the Summit" and thanked the Georgian delegation "for achieving success" at the international leaders' meeting.
The US President’s Administration issued a statement that emphasized the efforts of the US an NATO to support Alliance partners and share their burdens and support them when needed "to accomplish our common security goals”.
NATO’s representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia region has explained a part of the Wales Summit Declaration relating to conflict in the region.
Days after the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in Wales ended, United States (US) Secretary of Defence Chuck Hagel is visiting Georgia on his first official visit. In a meeting with Georgian officials yesterday, Hagel pledged the US would help the former Soviet republic improve its security.