US seeks to intensify support to NATO's partners Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova
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The White House believes more support should be offered to NATO partners – Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
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”.
"The United States strongly supports NATO’s cooperation with partners as a means to share more effectively burdens and act worldwide to accomplish our common security goals. This aligns with wider US strategy of driving global cooperation on security challenges through networks of alliances," read the statement.
The US said NATO remained committed to further strengthening and deepening its partnerships, as agreed during the 2012 NATO Summit in Chicago and reaffirmed in Wales, with the establishment of the Interoperability Initiative.
According to the White House, this program included an "Interoperability Platform” of about 24 partners that would help NATO and its partners maintain joint readiness to tackle security challenges.
Additionally, it included an upper tier of "Enhanced Partners,” which provided early access to operational planning, streamlined participation in exercises and regular political consultations for NATO’s closest and most interoperable partners.
In general, US support to NATO partners typically fell into three categories: direct security assistance, training and exercises, or long term institutional reform.
"We have actively engaged in each of these areas for Ukraine and measures are underway to intensify support for Moldova and Georgia," the White House said, noting the US was "developing plans” to support Georgia and Moldova by intensifying security assistance over the longer term.
"If funded, the US European Reassurance Initiative will include provisions for increased assistance to build capacity in Ukraine, Moldova and Georgia to provide for their own defence and increase interoperability with Western forces.”
The statement ended with a reaffirmation that the US was working closely with NATO to develop more robust assistance and engagement programs for the Georgia, Ukraine and Moldova.
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.
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 ongoing crisis in Ukraine and its potential impact on Georgia and other neighbouring countries was what Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili told a UK audience today.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 United States (US) is offering Georgia $30 million USD in financial aid and a further $57 million to Moldova, Georgia and Ukraine collectively in a bid to increase US military deployments in Eastern European ally countries and offer more support to its partners.