A session of the NATO-Georgia Commission will be held in the framework of the alliance's defense ministers' meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels and will discuss the Russian military presence in the Black Sea, among other issues, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd October, 2018) A session of the NATO-Georgia Commission will be held in the framework of the alliance's defense ministers' meeting on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels and will discuss the Russian military presence in the Black Sea, among other issues, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Tuesday.
"We will also hold a meeting of the NATO-Georgia Commission. Georgia is one of our closest partners and a country aspiring to NATO membership. It makes many contributions to our shared security. We work closely together on Black Sea security. This is a priority for NATO and for Georgia," Stoltenberg said.
The NATO chief noted that the parties would discuss the challenges that they were facing in the Black Sea.
"We see substantial Russian increase in military presence, especially in the Crimea," he added.
He confirmed that NATO would continue to support Georgia's reforms on the way to the alliance's membership.
Georgia will not have to choose between NATO membership and territorial integrity, Stoltenberg stressed.
"We also stated clearly once again that we fully support the territorial integrity of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders, and this includes the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and Georgia will not be forced to choose between its territorial integrity and membership of NATO. So, George will become a member when it meets the NATO standards alliance, we will help Georgia doing that ... with implementing reforms," Stoltenberg said.
Georgia has been seeking NATO membership since the cooperation with the Alliance officially began in 1994 when the country became a member of the Partnership for Peace program. In April 2008, at the NATO Bucharest Summit, the allied heads of state and government agreed to Georgia becoming a NATO member in the future. Moscow has repeatedly expressed its negative attitude toward the further expansion of NATO to the east.
