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
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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.