"The Alliance has strengthened its partnership with Georgia" - meeting of NATO foreign ministers
Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Bucharest
Before a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Bucharest on November 29, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that the alliance has strengthened its partnership with both Georgia and Ukraine following a decision made at the previous summit [in Bucharest in 2008].
“Then I was also present [at the summit] as Prime Minister of Norway. I remember this meeting very well. I am pleased that since then we have strengthened our partnership with Georgia and Ukraine. I expect foreign ministers to reiterate that NATO’s doors remain open. We have demonstrated that we are carrying out the decision made at the Bucharest summit not only in words but also in deeds,” Stoltenberg said.
At the Bucharest NATO summit on April 2-3 of 2008, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, David Bakradze, held a briefing in which he said that Georgia and Ukraine had not received a Membership Action Plan. Instead the countries received a firm promise that Georgia would join NATO.
At the November 28 meeting in Bucharest, where the issue of supporting the countries of the Balkans and Black Sea region was discussed, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken was also present, and he explained that, in addition to joining the alliance, the Black Sea region is of strategic and vital importance for the United States. According to Blinken, the United States will strengthen the presence of NATO from the Black Sea to the Baltic:
“We have three allies in this region, as well as two close partners: Georgia and Ukraine. Russia has turned some areas of the Black Sea into a war zone. We see rockets launched from ships towards Ukrainian cities, as well as Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports, which caused a serious food crisis. We will strengthen NATO’s presence from the Black Sea to the Baltic Sea. The Black Sea region is a critical part of NATO’s defense and strategy,” the Secretary of State said.
After the meeting in Bucharest, NATO foreign ministers issued a joint statement regarding support for Georgia and foreign ministers’ commitment to the alliance’s open door policy.
“The Balkan and Black Sea regions are of strategic importance for the alliance. We welcome our meeting with the foreign ministers of NATO partners Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia and the Republic of Moldova, as NATO expands targeted support to strengthen the integrity and resilience of countries, build capacity and protect their political independence. We are firmly committed to the Alliance’s open door policy. We reaffirm our decisions made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit and all subsequent decisions regarding Georgia and Ukraine,” the statement read.
Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Bucharest
