Lithuania’s Defence Minister: “NATO membership was not a problem for Germany when it was divided like Georgia”

NATO membership was not a problem for Germany when the country was divided like Georgia” says a top Lithuanian official who met Georgia’s Minister of Defence today.

Lithuania’s Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas voiced his strong opinion about NATO membership and offered strong support for Georgia during a meeting with Georgia’s Minister of Defence Tinatin Khidasheli, who is on a 10-day tour of Europe to attract support for the country ahead of next year’s North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) Summit in Warsaw, Poland.

For the past year Georgia has worked hard to fulfil all criteria necessary to gain a Membership Action Plan (MAP) at the 2016 Wales Summit.

However it has been said several times by anti-NATO movements in Georgia that the Alliance would not accept Georgia into its rows because of the existing conflict regions of Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia).

It is very important Georgia’s partner countries to know exactly what Georgia expects from the Warsaw Summit 2016,” said Khindasheli today after meeting her Lithuanian counterpart.

This is a substantial result that will be an adequate response for Georgia, as NATO’s most credible and special partner,” she added.

Conversely, the Lithuanian official declared his country was, is and will continue to be "Georgia’s staunch ally” and partner as it worked towards Euro-Atlantic integration.

We support Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty. Lithuania strongly supports Georgia’s NATO integration in bilateral as well as in multilateral formats and expresses readiness to share experience gained in Euro-Atlantic integration process,” Olekas said.

To make her visit more comprehensive, Khidasheli met Lithuania’s president Dalia Grybauskaite today and discussed the ongoing reforms in Georgia.

President Grybauskaite commented on the meeting on her official Twitter account:

#Georgia can contribute to region's security&stability by implementing reforms. Discussed it with Tinatin Khidasheli pic.twitter.com/daWODELknJ

— Dalia Grybauskaitė (@Grybauskaite_LT) September 14, 2015

During the course of her visit Khidasheli also met with the Speaker of the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania [Lithuania’s Parliament] Loreta Graužinienė.

Khidasheli was told the Lithuanian lawmakers unanimously supported Georgia’s territorial integrity, democratic development and European and Euro-Atlantic integration.

Khidasheli has already concluded her visits to Poland, Latvia and Estonia.

Estonia is concerned by Russia’s aggressive actions on Georgian soil, said Estonian Prime Minister Taavi Rivas when met with Georgia’s Minister of Defence Tinatin Khidasheli. Photo by Georgia’s Ministry of Defence.

The Georgian official began her European tour on September 9.