Georgia’s reforms a focus for NATO membership - Stoltenberg
Stoltenberg also stressed “any decision” regarding new memberships in the bloc required unanimous consent of all member states, and noted there had not been agreement among them on granting the Membership Action Plan to new aspiring countries. Photo: NATO.int.
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Georgia’s main focus remains on reforms to move the country towards NATO membership, the alliance’s Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
Stoltenberg made the remark as part of comments at a meeting with members of the European Parliament, where he answered a question by Lithuanian politician Petras Auštrevičius on the bloc’s “open door policy” for new memberships.
The Secretary General said between the aspirant trio of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Georgia and Ukraine the latter was the subject of the “main focus” of the alliance.
He explained the approach meant supporting Ukraine’s objective of existing as an “independent, sovereign state” in the wake of the Russian invasion, not NATO membership for the state.
Stoltenberg also stressed “any decision” regarding new memberships in the bloc required unanimous consent of all member states, and noted there had not been agreement among them on granting the Membership Action Plan to new aspiring countries.
Alexander Vinnikov, the Head of the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia, on Tuesday said that the decisions made at the Madrid Summit attended by the Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili were an expression of NATO’s “strong political support” for Georgia.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said the alliance would adopt new packages of support for Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Moldova at its Summit that is set to launch on Tuesday in Madrid.
The Georgian Government’s delegation to this week’s NATO Summit expects “assessment and recognition” of “all the progress” made by the country over the years, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili said on Monday.
Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibahsvili received an official letter of invitation to NATO’s upcoming Summit in Madrid from Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
Georgian defence minister Juansher Burchuladze is featuring in a meeting of NATO ministers of defence in Brussels, the Georgian ministry said on Wednesday.
Georgian defence minister Juansher Burchuladze on Wednesday attended a meeting of the Ukraine Defence Contact Group in Brussels, discussing the situation created as a result of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and the country’s needs in combating the ongoing Russian offensives, as well as the security challenges facing the United States’s allies and partners.