NATO deputy sec gen: Ukraine, Georgia “will be by our side” if states, bloc are ready
Mircea Geoană, the deputy secretary general of NATO, on Tuesday said it was the “spirit” of the 2008 Bucharest summit that every sovereign state “has the right to dream of its own future”. Photo: NATO
Tweet 
Share
Mircea Geoană, the deputy secretary general of NATO, on Tuesday said if both the bloc on the one side, and Ukraine and Georgia on the other, were “ready” for their membership of the alliance, the countries would be “by our side”.
In his comments ahead of the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Bucharest, with Georgian foreign minister Ilia Darchiashvili attending the event, the alliance top official said the bloc remained committed to its 2008 summit promise to accept Georgia and Ukraine.
He claimed it was the “spirit” of the 2008 Bucharest summit that every sovereign state “has the right to dream of its own future, to fight for that future and to be there, where it believes to belong”.
Responding to Russia’s ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the NATO official said Russia had distanced itself from the civilised world by its move to invade Ukraine in late February, and stressed Ukraine “will be part of a democratic, developed and self-reliant civilised Europe”.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said the alliance would “step up” its support for Ukraine and other partners “facing Russian pressure”, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday said the alliance would “step up” its support for Ukraine and other partners “facing Russian pressure”, including Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and Moldova.
NATO secretary general Jens Stoltenberg on Friday said Georgia was a “highly valued” partner of the alliance.
NATO parliamentary assembly on Monday adopted the resolution urging member governments and parliaments of the alliance to “step up” support to “vulnerable partners” Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Moldova.
The NATO Secretary General's Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia Javier Colomina has expressed NATO’s support for Georgia’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and its Euro-Atlantic aspirations, calling Georgia a “very valued partner."
The Black Sea region is of vital strategic importance for NATO and in this part, it has close partners such as Ukraine and Georgia, along with member state allies Bulgaria, Romania and Türkiye, the United States secretary of state Antony Blinken said on Tuesday at a press conference.
In a joint statement issued on Tuesday, NATO foreign ministers reaffirmed their 2008 Bucharest Summit and "all subsequent" decisions on welcoming Georgia's and Ukraine's Euro-Atlantic aspirations.
Romanian, Latvian and Slovenian foreign ministers pledged their support for Georgia’s NATO integration at the ongoing meeting of the alliance’s FMs in Bucharest on Tuesday.
Victor Dolidze, the head of the Georgian mission to NATO, on Wednesday said it was “symbolic” the alliance’s ministerial in Bucharest this week “once again” stressed Georgia and Ukraine would “definitely” join the bloc, 14 years after the pledge was first made at a NATO summit in the city.
The United States will use “all tools” to “one day” make Russia meet the conditions of the 2008 ceasefire agreement and respect Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, Michael Carpenter, the US Ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told the Georgian Public Broadcaster on Friday.