Georgia in NATO Brussels Summit communique
By Natalia Kochiashvili
Wednesday, June 16
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia has released a statement on NATO's Brussels Summit 2021. The Ministry welcomed the NATO Summit in Brussels which started on June 14, at which important decisions were made, both in the context of Georgia's accession and in terms of the Alliance's future.
“It is extremely important that the communique confirms the decision of the Bucharest Summit that 'Georgia will become a member of NATO' and that Georgia has all the 'practical tools to prepare for final membership,” MFA wrote.
The Communique reiterated the decision made at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Georgia will become a member of the Alliance with the Membership Action Plan (MAP) as an integral part of the process; all elements of that decision, as well as subsequent decisions, including that each partner will be judged on its own merits was once again reaffirmed.
NATO members also emphasized the importance of cooperation with Georgia: “As an Enhanced Opportunities Partner, Georgia is cooperating closely with the Alliance across a wide range of issues. We highly appreciate Georgia’s substantial contributions to NATO operations, which demonstrate its commitment and capability to contribute to Euro-Atlantic security.”
The document also referred to the so-called Charles Michel agreement, which was welcomed by the alliance members and encouraged its full implementation by all sides. “This agreement paves the way for the important reforms which will help Georgia, an aspirant country, progress in its preparations towards membership. We remain committed to making full use of the NATO-Georgia Commission and the Annual National Programme in deepening political dialogue and cooperation. We commend the significant progress on reforms which Georgia has made and must continue to make, and which have helped Georgia strengthen its defence capabilities and interoperability with the Alliance.”
The Allied Member States' unequivocally and directly confirmed that they support Georgia's sovereign right to choose its foreign policy priorities and that any third party interference in this process is not to be welcomed. It is noteworthy that the member states underlined the cooperation in security in the Black Sea region, in response to Russia’s increasingly destabilising activities, and welcomed the steps taken to implement the refreshed Substantial NATO-Georgia Package. “We stand ready to enhance our support to Georgia, including in building resilience against hybrid threats, in training and exercises, and in secure communications. We look forward to the next NATO-Georgia exercise in 2022.”
According to MFA, for Georgia, as an aspirant country, the principle of transatlantic unity and the steps taken to strengthen it are especially valuable and Georgia appreciates the strong, consistent and effective support of the member states towards the country's sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-recognition policy.
The member states adequately assessed the attempt of the Russian Federation to separate the 2 occupied regions from the rest of Georgia by 'violent' methods, and highlighted the frequent cases of borderisation, abduction of Georgian citizens, their illegal detention and harassment. The Alliance calls on the Russian Federation to comply with the ceasefire agreement of 12 August 2008.
The Allies paid particular attention to supporting the rule-based international order. It was stressed that Russia, through its illegal actions, hinders the maintenance of this order, which in turn undermines the security, stability and democratic values of allied and partner countries.
Georgia also welcomed the decision of the Alliance to update the NATO Strategic Concept, which will be approved at the 2022 Summit of the Alliance. The Georgian side hopes that the issues related to open door policy will be adequately reflected in the new strategic concept and will share the recommendations on enlargement and the decision of the Bucharest Summit in the NATO 2030-United for a New Era document. Georgia hopes that the clear and concrete strategy of the Alliance towards the Black Sea region will be formed in the new strategic concept of NATO.
Alliance decisions to strengthen containment and defense policies were also highlighted in the MFA statement. NATO began strengthening its south-eastern flank in 2014 by increasing the readiness of the armed forces and new military deployments on its territory. It is in this context that NATO is actively working to strengthen Black Sea security. At the summit, the Allies agreed to improve the Alliance's preparedness, response and defense. The Georgian side welcomes this decision and hopes that NATO's involvement in the Black Sea region will further increase, which will be a significant deterrent and further strengthen security in the Euro-Atlantic area.
Member States also focused on strengthening resilience, which is crucial to the Alliance's 3 core objectives - collective defense, crisis management and cooperative security. Given the fact that destructive actors often use conventional and hybrid warfare methods to destabilize allied and partner countries, Georgia welcomes the strengthening of the Alliance's capabilities in this area and the deepening of cooperation with non-member countries.
