Jens Stoltenberg: Georgia to join NATO after democratic reforms

On September 7, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General, attended the international conference "Change in European geopolitical landscape after the Warsaw Summit" held in Tbilisi. He has stated the political nature of the issue of Georgia's joining NATO.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that the Jens Stoltenberg's plans include meetings, in particular, with Georgian President Georgy Margvelashvili and Defence Minister Levan Izoriya.

"First of all, Georgia is in need of democratic reforms and reforms of its judicial system... The fairly conducted elections will be of great importance," said Jens Stoltenberg.

Besides, participants of the conference have also voiced a question whether Russia is one of the reasons that Georgia has not yet been accepted to NATO.

"Russia has always opposed NATO expansion. The same took place in cases with Montenegro, the Baltic States, and countries of Eastern Europe. However, Russia has signed the Helsinki Accords, in accordance to which each nation can choose its own path," said Jens Stoltenberg.

According to a sociological survey, conducted by the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in February-March 2016, the membership in NATO was supported by 79% of Georgian residents. It should be noted that the NDI surveys on the political situation in Georgia often cause disputes concerning the reliability of their results.

Full text of the article is available on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’.