“NATO Allies do not, and will not, recognise Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea”, said NATO Secretary General Rasmussen during meeting of NATO Defence Ministers with Georgian counterpart, Irakli Alasania, on Wednesday to discuss the regional issues including Ukraine crises.
“Neither do we accept Russia’s recognition of the South Ossetia and Abkhazia regions of Georgia as independent states. NATO stands up for the right of every nation to make its own sovereign choice on foreign and security policy,” said Rasmussen.
According to NATO news release, regarding Georgia’s path to NATO membership, Mr Fogh Rasmussen welcomed the good progress made on reforms, saying that these have made Georgia’s defence and security sectors more transparent and accountable. “We look forward to further implementation of reforms and we will continue to assist you in this process,” the Secretary General said.
Georgia is one of the largest non-NATO contributors to the ISAF mission in Afghanistan and the Secretary General commended Georgia for its outstanding role in NATO operations. Georgia has also committed to contributing to the new NATO-led mission to train, advise and assist Afghan forces after 2014 and has offered to contribute to the NATO Response Force in 2015.
