On 19 August, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas attended an extraordinary North Atlantic Council meeting, where he and other NATO Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Georgia.
On 19 August, Lithuanian Minister of Foreign Affairs Petras Vaitiekūnas attended an extraordinary North Atlantic Council meeting, where he and other NATO Foreign Ministers discussed the situation in Georgia.
Ministers expressed their firm support to Georgia’s independence, sovereignty, its territorial integrity and democratically elected government, and agreed to provide practical assistance, necessary for normal life of the society and the revival of economic activities. It is intended to immediately evaluate the damage inflicted on Georgian infrastructure during the conflict and to make a decision regarding other means of assistance.
During the meeting, Ministers stated that the conflict had not altered NATO’s commitments regarding Georgia’s integration into NATO. Having confirmed a definite perspective of this country to become a NATO member, NATO Foreign Ministers will discuss application of the Membership Action Plan to Georgia in December. NATO member countries decided to establish a NATO-Georgia Commission.
NATO Foreign Ministers also discussed perspectives of further relations between the Alliance and Russia. Once again NATO member countries urged Russia to comply with the principles of the signed cease-fire agreement and to pull out its troops that still unlawfully remain in the territory of Georgia.
In the meeting, Minister P.Vaitiekūnas indicated that Russia’s actions would have long-term impact on security and stability in Europe and that they had to be answered.
According to the head of Lithuanian diplomacy, after the latest actions of Russia we will have to reconsider the entire scope of our relations with Russia, as well as cooperation with this country in the framework of NATO-Russia Council.
Minister of Foreign Affairs P.Vaitiekūnas also heeded the attention of the allies to the fact that Russia moved towards threatening other European countries, including the Baltic States. Therefore, it is necessary to pay particular attention to the security situation in the region.
After the NATO ministerial meeting, P.Vaitiekūnas is taking part in the meeting of the New Group of Friends of Georgia, which is also attended by Georgian Minister of Foreign Affairs Eka Tkeshelashvili from Tbilisi.