UK Strongly Supports Georgia's NATO Membership, Affirms Ambassador Mark Clayton
By Liza Mchedlidze
Thursday, February 1, 2024
At an event discussing Georgia's relations with NATO, where a document outlining the steps for Georgia's progress towards NATO membership was presented, the British Ambassador to Georgia, Mark Clayton, stated that they warmly welcome Georgia's EU candidate status. He emphasized Georgia's focus on joining NATO and mentioned that the UK strongly supports this intention.
The Ambassador stressed the importance of respecting democracy, emphasizing its significance within the organization. He emphasized the need for Georgia to work on both military and democratic aspects to progress in NATO.
"I am really pleased to be here on behalf of the United Kingdom where we are looking at Georgia's relations with NATO. There has been a huge amount of focus recently on Georgia's EU candidate status and we warmly welcome that but Georgia equally focuses on its intention to join NATO and the UK is a strong supporter of that. We are NATO's contact point alongside allies from Romania involved in public work to promote the benefits of NATO membership to Georgia.
The paper that has been presented today covers two areas very well. And I think these are the areas Georgia has to look at to continue its progress on NATO membership: The first is to continue progress on democracy and reforms, just like the EU. This is very important for NATO. NATO is a political military alliance, a lot of attention goes on tanks but respect for democracy is the core of the organization. That is where Georgia needs to continue to work similarly with the military line. The paper that we will hear today focuses more on what Georgia can do to contribute to collective security," Clayton said.
