NATO Continues to Show Support for Georgia

Today NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has summed up the work of the North-Atlantic organization.

The Secretary General’s Annual Report shows cuts in defence spending have almost stopped.

The report also highlighted that NATO has encouraged Georgia and its allies to continue their reform efforts to prepare for membership and confirmed NATO’s continued support for this.

“In the east, we continue to support Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova to better resist outside pressure,” Stoltenberg stated.

Stoltenberg emphasized that NATO is working with the EU to support partners in the eastern neighbourhood, ensuring complementarity of their efforts.

“Much of this ongoing work is focused on Ukraine, but consultations have addressed possible cooperation in other countries, including Georgia, Iraq, Jordan and Moldova,” he continued.
According to the Annual Report, over the last several years there has been a significant increase in Russia’s military activity near NATO’s borders, as well as a demonstrated willingness to use force in pursuit of its foreign and defence policy goals.

“Russia’s use of force in Georgia in 2008, and again with the annexation of Ukrainian territory in March 2014, has fundamentally challenged the vision of a Europe whole, free and at peace and undermines the principles of international relations as agreed in the Helsinki Final Act. For the first time since the Second World War, one European country illegally annexed part of another,” the NATO annual report reads.

The report highlighted the fact that NATO has developed specific structures for its relationships with Georgia, Russia and Ukraine, though due to Russia’s aggressive actions towards Ukraine and its illegal annexation of Crimea, NATO suspended its practical cooperation with Russia in early 2014.

In the annual report, Georgia’s progressive steps toward female participation and the strengthening of gender capacity was also emphasized.

“Georgia is actively engaging in and contributing to gender training at the national, regional and international levels. The Georgian Ministry of Defence continues to be a leader for change in the country and is actively engaging in public awareness campaigns addressing gender stereotypes in an effort to increase the recruitment and retention of women in the armed forces,” the report stated.