Julianne Smith, United States Ambassador to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in an interview with Imedi TV on Friday, praised Georgia’s “excellent and very close” relationship with the Alliance and singled out the country as one of NATO’s “closest partners”.
Smith said Georgia’s participation in NATO operations and the country’s “significant contributions” and “great sacrifices” will always be “remembered and respected,” stressing that both Georgia and the alliance want to deepen the existing partnership.
“We want to help Georgia […] in strengthening democratic processes and institutions, the rule of law, human rights. Great work has been done, but there is still a lot of work ahead of us and together we can work to improve the partnership and help Georgia on its way to NATO membership,” noted the Ambassador, adding that the country has “ met many criteria” in order to become a member of NATO, but the “good work” should also be continued on other issues.
We also want to see as much political unity as possible. This is important for the Georgian people and it is also an important signal to Russia that it will not be able to split the Georgian people, it will not be able to interfere in internal political affairs. This also strengthens Georgia’s place in the Euro-Atlantic space,” stressed Smith.
She also stressed that Georgia must continue to work on fulfilling the recommendations of the European Union, which would benefit the country’s integration into the alliance “safely”, even though Nato and the EU are “two different institutions”.
Both NATO and the EU want Georgia to achieve its Euro-Atlantic aspirations,” Smith added, underscoring the US desire to see “a peaceful and stable Georgia within its internationally recognized borders.”
The US ambassador to NATO said Georgia, along with the people of Ukraine, will receive a “strong signal of support” from the alliance during its summit in Vilnius in July, which is a message of “unity, continued support and strengthening of ties”. .
