Joint press point

Prime Minister, it is indeed a great pleasure to welcome you to NATO.

The fact that you have chosen to make Brussels the destination of your first official visit shows the importance you attach to our relationship.

And the Prime Minister and I have had a very positive and very constructive meeting this morning.

Georgia is a close and committed partner for NATO. You recently doubled your contribution to our mission in Afghanistan. You have already joined the planning process for the NATO-led mission to train, advise and assist the Afghan forces after 2014. You aspire to join our Alliance. And Prime Minister, I welcome your confirmation that your government is committed to that aspiration.

I can assure you that NATO is committed to close relations with Georgia. Our cooperation is strong, and our dialogue is on the highest level. My meetings this week with you, Prime Minister, and with President Saakashvili are proof of that. And I look forward to a meeting of foreign ministers in the NATO-Georgia Commission, less than a month from now.

Georgia’s elections in October were free and fair and lived up to democratic standards. I encourage all parties in Georgia to keep up that momentum and consolidate democratic progress. That includes full respect for the rule of law, the constitution and democratic standards.

But the true test of a democracy is the ability of the different actors to work together for the good of the country. As I told President Saakashvili on Monday, I strongly urge both of you, Prime Minister, to cooperate and make co-habitation work, in full respect for the constitution, in the months to come. This is vital for the Georgian people, and for Georgia’s future.

As we made clear at the NATO Summit in Bucharest in 2008 and in subsequent Summits, Georgia will become a member of NATO. We are committed to your Euro-Atlantic future and to Georgia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

But Membership will take more work, and more reforms. And it will take constructive cooperation between all branches of government. So I encourage all parties in Georgia to keep consensus on Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic policies and work together to pursue the necessary reforms and meet the highest democratic standards. And I am confident that Georgia’s democracy will pass that test.