NATO sec gen stresses need to “step up” cooperation with partners including Georgia

NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said the alliance should “step up” cooperation with its partners in Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina and other countries.

In his address to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, Stoltenberg stressed the bloc and its partner states should “tackle” challenges together.

We must step up our cooperation with our partners near and far, with those most affected by Russian aggression and coercion, like Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as with all like-minded countries around the world from Latin America to the Middle East, from North Africa to the Indo-Pacific region”, Stoltenberg said.

The alliance leader also said NATO shared security interests and faced “the same challenges” as the mentioned partners, and told the assembly joint efforts should be aimed to ”defend freedom against oppression, defend democracy against tyranny, and uphold the international rules-based institutions that benefit all of us”.