NATO Sec-Gen: ‘We will help, support Georgia on its way to NATO membership’
Jens Stoltenberg said NATO helps Georgia “with more modernising their defence and security institutions, implementing reforms”. Photo: NATO webpage
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NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said “we will help and we support Georgia on its way towards NATO membership”.
Stoltenberg responded to Georgian journalist ahead of the meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs in Brussels on Wednesday.
He said NATO helps Georgia “with more modernising their defence and security institutions, implementing reforms”.
That’s the purpose of the NATO presence in Georgia, help to modernise their defence and security institutions”, he said.
Speaking of importance of the Black Sea region he noted that NATO has three littoral countries there: Romania, Bulgaria, Turkey as well as two important partners: Georgia and Ukraine there.
We are working with our partners, both Georgia and Ukraine, in the Black Sea Region and I urge Allies to provide the necessary resources, personnel, to make sure that we step up and provide more practical support”, Stoltenberg stated.
At NATO foreign Ministerial on November 20, NATO FMs addressed a wide range of security challenges in preparation for the meeting of NATO leaders in London.
Georgian FM David Zalkaliani who also travelled to Brussels, said he will “maximally use” the NATO ministerial, which is being held ahead of the meeting of NATO leaders in London in December, to show Georgia’s progress on its NATO path during the ministerial and in London next month.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has raised the issue of the abduction of famous Georgian doctor Vazha Gapridashvili with High Representative of the EU for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini, acting chair of OSCE Miroslav Lajcak, Deputy Secretary General of UN Rosemary DiCarlo and Deputy Secretary General of NATO Mircea Geoana. "To put aside politics, the action is totally unacceptable from a humanitarian point of view,” Zalkaliani said.
A delegation of top Georgian clerics have stated in Brussels that NATO and the EU are the “firm choice” of the Georgian people and urged the international community to help Georgia peacefully settle its conflicts with Russia.
The Standing NATO Mine Countermeasures Group 2 (SNMCMG2) has entered Georgia’s coastal city of Batumi earlier today to participate in three-day drills with Georgia’s coast guard personnel. The SNMCMG2 is represented by two ships the ITS VESUVIO (Italy) and TCG AMASRA (Turkey).
NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller says that Russia is against Georgian membership in NATO, but the attitude has nothing to do with the position of the alliance. Gottemoeller made the statement during a press conference with Georgian PM Giorgi Gakharia, on the sidelines of the 5th North Atlantic Council (NAC) meeting in Batumi earlier today.
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.