US reaffirms support for Georgia, Ukraine to become NATO members
The meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Foreign Ministers of Georgia and Ukraine is scheduled in the Latvian capital of Riga on December 1. Photo: Nino Alavidze/Agenda.ge
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The United States continues to support NATO’s decision of the 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration that Georgia and Ukraine will become NATO members.
The United States continues to support NATO’s decision in the 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration, reaffirmed ever since, including in the June 2021 Brussels Summit, that Georgia and Ukraine will become NATO members”, the US Department of State said.
A day before the NATO foreign ministerial in Riga the Department of State also underscored that ‘these countries’ Annual National Programs (ANP) detail their path to membership’.
Already, both Georgia and Ukraine are members of the Enhanced Opportunities Partnership (EOP), which elevates their interoperability and training opportunities alongside NATO Allies”, the statement reads.
It also reiterates that the NATO leaders are committed to NATO’s Open Door Policy, ‘which provides a path to membership for any European country that shares our values and meets the necessary responsibilities and obligations’.
The Latvian capital of Riga will be hosting NATO foreign ministerial on November 30-December 1. Photo: NATO
At a pre-ministerial press conference on November 26 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that Georgia and Ukraine ‘are close and highly valued partners that aspire for membership and NATO supports them, both politically and practically’. Therefore, the situation in the region with Georgia and Ukraine will be on the ministerial agenda.
Both countries are highly-valued partners of NATO. We work closely with them and we are expanding our cooperation and we welcome both the contributions of both Georgia and Ukraine to NATO. But also, we really believe that NATO is supporting both countries, Georgia and Ukraine, in a positive and helpful way”, Stoltenberg then said.
The meeting of the North Atlantic Council with Foreign Ministers of Georgia and Ukraine is scheduled for December 1, which Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani says is the recognition of Georgia’s progress as an aspirant country.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said at the College of Europe in Bruges earlier today that ‘NATO’s door remains open’ for Georgia and Ukraine. Stoltenberg said that he was at the NATO summit in Bucharest back in 2008 when the alliance made a decision that Georgia and Ukraine will become its members but they ‘did not set any fixed date’.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani has stated that the invitation of Georgia to Riga Summit at the meetings of the North Atlantic Council (NAC) is the recognition of Georgia’s progress as an aspirant country by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
“Georgia’s relationship with the alliance contains all the practical tools to prepare for eventual membership. We are working closely with Georgia on security in the Black Sea region, in response to Russia’s increasingly destabilising activities, and welcome the steps taken to implement the refreshed Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. We stand ready to enhance our support to Georgia, including in building resilience against hybrid threats, in training and exercises, and in secure communications. We look forward to the next NATO-Georgia exercise in 2022,” said the communique.
Georgian Defence Minister Juansher Burchuladze said Georgia has all the practical tools that are necessary to become a member of NATO.
Georgia is expecting that the NATO 2022 summit in Madrid will make concrete messages on the alliance’s open door policy, Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani stated after the NATO Foreign Ministerial in Riga today. “The Riga Foreign Ministerial made me think that the NATO 2022 summit will be oriented on concrete results for the open-door policy,” Zalkaliani said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said following the meeting of NATO foreign ministers that Georgia and Ukraine are both ‘long-standing and close NATO partners’. Stoltenberg further noted during his press conference that Georgia and Ukraine - both aspiring for NATO membership - contribute to its missions and operations.
Russia has called on NATO member states to rescind the 2008 Bucharest Summit declaration supporting Georgia and Ukraine's bid to become members of the alliance. The statement, issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, demanded the security guarantees from the United States and its allies.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg held a meeting earlier today wherein a ‘clear vision of Georgia’s eventual integration to NATO’ was discussed. Garibashvili stated that time has come to advance the country’s integration and ‘make concrete political decisions.’
Former US ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul has said that Russia should agree to withdraw forces from Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine as part of the security deal proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Konstantin Gavrilov, the head of the Russian Delegation to the Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control in Vienna, stated earlier today that ‘under no circumstances will Moscow allow the deployment of NATO infrastructure in Georgia and Ukraine.’
US Department of State Spokesperson Ned Price has stated that the US is ready to engage diplomatically with Russia through multiple channels including the NATO-Russia Council, however, noted that there will be no talks with Russia on European security without ‘our European allies and partners.’
Georgian Foreign Minister David Zalkaliani said that NATO’s stance on Georgia and Ukraine is unwavering and that they [partner countries] will tell Russia at NATO-Russia talks today that the alliance’s position towards both countries will not be revised.