Georgia and the NATO-Brussels Summit

On July 11-12, heads of states and governments met in Brussels for the NATA-Brussels Summit. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) issued a joint declaration which reiterates and reinforces its support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, Ukraine, and the Republic of Moldova within their internationally recognized borders.

To that end, NATO called on Russia to reverse its recognition of Russian-backed independence of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and to cease alleged human rights violations in those regions.

The Georgia-NATO commission made some declarations reaffirming close cooperation between Georgia and NATO, and future NATO membership (currently Georgia is not a member of NATO but does contribute troops to Afghanistan under the NATO alliance).

NATO welcomed Georgia’s progress on reforms over the past 10 years, particularly in its democratic processes and economic development. NATO also congratulated Georgia for its modernization of its armed forces.

NATO thanked Georgia for its support to NATO’s operations, notably its contribution to the Resolute Support Mission (RSM) in which Georgia remains one of the largest troop contributors. RSM is a mission which aims to advise and assist against terrorism, which supports 13,000 troops in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

NATO indicated that, in the future, it will consider a new phase of cooperation with Georgia on cyber defense. NATO will also welcome Georgia into Operations Sea Guardian, which is a mission to protect the Mediterranean Sea.

Georgia sought membership into NATO in 2008, and continues to progress its NATO membership, and also its membership application to the European Union. NATO said that Georgia will eventually become a member. The next Georgia-NATO exercise will be in March 2019.

MARTINA NICOLLSis an international aid and development consultant, and the authorof:- Similar But Different in the Animal Kingdom(2017), The Shortness of Life: A Mongolian Lament (2015), Liberia’s Deadest Ends (2012), Bardot’s Comet (2011), Kashmir on a Knife-Edge (2010) and The Sudan Curse (2009).

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