President of Georgia: We see our future in EU and NATO
By Tea Mariamidze
Wednesday, April 6
President Giorgi Margvelashvili opened the second day of the NATO-Georgia Public Diplomacy Forum. He noted that Georgia sees its future in the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).
Margvelashvili spoke about Georgia’s participation in NATO missions, which contributes to global security, and said that the Alliance can bring more peace and stability to the region.
“We see our cultural and political future in the EU and NATO, which is a safety umbrella under which we should unite and strengthen through our participation; this it will bring peace to the countries in our region and in the world,” the President stated.
Margvelashvili spoke at length about the recent armed conflict between Azerbaijani and Armenia in Nagorno-Karabakh, and called upon both sides to end the conflict.
Defence Minister of Georgia Tinatin Khidasheli also delivered a speech at the forum. She underlined that Georgia has positive expectations from the NATO Summit scheduled in Warsaw this summer.
The Defense Minister spoke about the expectations for the NATO summit and noted that it is important for the Alliance to be stronger and more united after the Warsaw summit.
"Our aim is to be part of this unity. There should not be a sense in Warsaw that NATO member countries have separate agendas,” Khidasheli said.
According to her, Georgia has its own objectives, such as strengthening its security and self-defence capabilities.
“Georgia should not be seen as a threat to anyone; Georgia is an opportunity for everyone to show opponents that if you do your best, you will surely succeed,” stated Khidasheli.
The Minister also mentioned recent developments in the world, such as terrorist attacks and the armed conflict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in Nagorno-Karabakh. She said that all these processes revealed that the main values to be preserved are human lives and peace.
“Lots of negative things are happening in the world today, and both NATO and the European Union need positive examples. Such positive examples will always be in Georgia,” Khidasheli said, and added that Georgia is always ready to keep peace and save lives.
The United States (US) Ambassador to Georgia Ian Kelly also delivered a speech at the forum, saying that the US fully supports Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO.
"NATO said that Georgia has all the necessary tools for integration with NATO. We expect that the NATO summit in Warsaw will help Georgia. We fully support Georgia's Euro-Atlantic path,” the Ambassador stated.
Kelly commented on the situation in Nagorno-Karabakh and called upon the Armenian and Azerbaijani sides to de-escalate the situation and negotiate.
