NATO Sec-Gen: ‘We work closely with Georgia’

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 released a video of Jens Stoltenberg's remarks to media:

• Doorstep statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the Munich Security Conference

The NATO Secretary General further noted that NATO has many partners all over the world, from New Zealand and Australia to neighbours as Finland, Sweden, Ukraine, Georgia and many other countries.  

So, partnership is part of the way NATO works. We support them, but they also support us. Many partners contribute to NATO missions and operations, for instance in Afghanistan or Iraq”, he said.

In his remarks Stoltenberg also spoke of “strategic importance” of the Black Sea region for NATO. He said the alliance here has allies like Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey as well as partners like Ukraine and Georgia. 

• US defence secretary praises Georgia’s contribution to int’l peace while meeting with Georgian PM

Georgian delegation led by Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia is also attending the Munich Security Conference on February 14-16.