Georgia is a very highly valued partner, and also in close cooperation with the European Union. We are looking into what we can do more to work even closer with our close partners in the eastern part of Europe,  NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg stated today at a press conference with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola.

He said that the “brutal invasion of Ukraine” demonstrated the need for NATO to provide support to those countries in Europe that are not members of NATO and neither members of the European Union as Moldova and Georgia.

“This is about practical support, this is about political support,” he said.

Metsola stated that the European Parliament “has always welcomed any country that looks to Europe as its home, that that should be the step that is taken.”

“So we were the institution to welcome the application from all three countries (Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova). We understand the difficulties, and the challenges, and the threats that those countries are under,” she said.

Metsola stated  that the EP has invited Moldovan President Maia Sandu to address the European Parliament in a forthcoming plenary session, and that she had accepted that invitation.

“And we are also in constant contact with our Georgian partners and also representatives of the Georgian parliament in order to make sure that when that step happens (applying for EU membership), we are ready to make our commitment and this parliament has never shied away from it,” she suggested.

Georgia submitted an application for EU membership on March 3.