Opinion: Stoltenberg explicitly states that Georgia is lagging behind in terms of democracy
Stoltenberg’s statement on Georgia
On April 25 NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili at NATO Headquarters in Brussels. At a briefing after the meeting, Stoltenberg noted that Georgia is NATO’s closest partner and they support Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.
At the same time, he also stressed that NATO fully declares its political and practical support for Georgia and, first of all, support for internal reforms in the country, and “that is why we called on the government to withdraw the law on foreign agents, which was not in line with democratic principles.”
Director of the Center for European Studies “Rondeli Foundation” Kakha Gogolashvili on Palitra News aired an assessment of Garibashvili’s visit to Brussels and his meeting with NATO Secretary General.
According to Gogolashvili, one can conclude from Jens Stoltenberg’s statements that at this stage there will be no institutional progress in terms of Georgia’s integration into NATO.
“Some things became very clear during the visit to Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg had two key points, delivered in very diplomatic language. Our people may understand or represent this in different ways in the government, but in fact it was directly said that we are lagging behind in democracy and we need to try more and continue democratic reforms. Secondly, he emphasized support for Ukraine. He said that supporting Ukraine is very important today.
He also noted that cooperation with Georgia will continue within the framework of a fruitful subject package. This means that we will not be talking about granting us some kind of status, that is, institutional progress, but perhaps there will be an expansion of this package, its strengthening with various forms of military assistance. This is the status quo on this issue today. I do not expect anything new from the upcoming Vilnius NATO summit, although there will be some institutional progress in Ukraine,” Gogolashvili said.
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After meeting with Stoltenberg, Garibashvili said that Georgia is intent on deepening practical cooperation with NATO.
According to him, Georgia has a good experience of participating in NATO missions, and Georgia contributes to Euro-Atlantic peace and security, “which is well known to all”:
“Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations remain the top priority of our foreign policy. I also want to note that we have made significant progress. Over the past ten years, we have signed an association agreement with the European Union, as well as a free trade agreement, and received a visa-free regime with the European Union. Last year we already adopted a European perspective, which was a historic decision, and we will actively continue the work on the implementation of the 12 recommendations, which will be completed in the very near future.”
