NATO Secretary General Affirms Support for Georgia’s Atlantic Integration

In an interview with DW (Deutsche Welle), published today, NATO secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that NATO “support[s] aspirations of Georgia and Ukraine for moving towards trans-Atlantic integration.”

He emphasized the sovereignty of Georgia and Ukraine, saying, “The question of membership will be decided by 29 NATO allies together with these two countries. It's not for anyone else to try to interfere with or veto this process. It is absolutely unacceptable that big powers like Russia try to re-establish their spheres of influence by deciding what their neighbors should do.”

Discussing NATO’s response to new challenges presented by Putin and increasingly aggressive Russian policy, Stoltenberg said, “Of course we need to make sure that NATO adapts when we see a more assertive Russia investing heavily in new modern equipment and willing to use military force against its neighbors. We saw it in Georgia, we see it in Ukraine.”

The Secretary General emphasized that the alliance does not want a new Cold War with Russia. When asked how growing anti-Americanism is affecting NATO’s image, Stoltenberg said “European allies and the US disagree on some issues, such as trade, climate change or the Iran nuclear deal. At the same time, we have seen that NATO is able to unite around our core task to protect and defend each other. And that's also the case now. We can see that the US is increasing its presence in Europe for the first time since the end of the Cold War.”

Read the full text of the interview here.

By Samantha Guthrie

Photo: Reuters/M. Shemetov, courtesy of DW

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