Romanian, Latvian, Slovenian FMs pledge support for Georgia’s NATO integration
Latvian, Slovenian and Romanian FMs said on Tuesday their countries remained committed to the 2008 Bucharest summit declaration
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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.
The officials stressed their countries remained committed to the 2008 Bucharest summit declaration that said Georgia and Ukraine would be accepted to the bloc if mandatory criteria are addressed.
We have a very strong and warm feeling towards Georgia and Georgians, because we are very close to each other in terms of thinking and goals”, Romanian FM Bogdan Aurescu told the media.
"We have always supported Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We continue to support the 2008 Bucharest summit declaration, which says that Georgia and Ukraine will become members of the alliance when the conditions are met. We strongly support this goal”, he said.
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Reiterating his support for Georgia’s integration goals, Edgars Rinkēvičs, the Latvian FM, said bloc members were ready to ensure support for Georgia in implementing necessary reforms and strengthening its resilience.
A big question now is how we prepare a political plan to fulfill this promise that was made here 14 years ago”, said the official.
In her comments, Slovenian FM Tanja Fajon said her country was ready to offer “not only political, but also material and humanitarian assistance to Georgia” on its path to NATO.
We will listen to [Georgia’s foreign] minister, what else can be done in the current situation, before winter, before new tensions in the region. So, this will be a very important discussion," she said.
Fajon also said it was “very important to discuss the consequences of the war in Ukraine with our partners who are at risk and are vulnerable countries [to Russian aggression]”.
Georgian FM Ilia Darchiashvili is featuring in the two-day event, which will end later on Wednesday, following an invitation by the alliance.
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.
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.
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”.
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.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Wednesday said Georgia’s capital Tbilisi would be a “city of peace” and added the country was wishing the same for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion of the latter.
Javier Colomina, the NATO secretary general's special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, on Wednesday said the ongoing meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in Bucharest had discussed “tailored assistance” for Georgia, Moldova and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Georgian foreign minister Ilia Darchiashvili on Wednesday said NATO partners had “very clearly” stated their support for a progressive integration of Georgia into the alliance, adding the process would “definitely” continue.
Petr Mikyska, the Czech Ambassador to Georgia, on Friday said the media had "misinterpreted" his comments about Czech-made products being exported to Russia via Georgia.
Irakli Kobakhidze, the chair of the ruling Georgian Dream party, on Thursday said there could be a “diplomatic response” if an allegation by Czech ambassador Petr Mikyska about Czech-made products being exported from Georgia to Russia was confirmed to have been made.