Before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia and Herzegovina faced serious challenges caused by Russia, but the risk has increased. Such a statement made today the NATO Secretary General after the Extraordinary meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs.

“All these are different countries, and of course they face different types of risks and challenges. But they have in common that we have seen Russia trying to exercise their power to intimidate them partly by subversion and interference in the domestic political processes or by military invasion. Georgia has been invaded by Russia and Russian troops still in reality control parts of Georgia, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. In Moldova and Transnistria, which is part of Moldova, there are Russian troops without the consent of the government in Moldova. And then, in Bosnia-Herzegovina we see a very fragile, unstable situation with inflammatory rhetoric and serious challenges to the unity of that state. So even before the Russian invasion of Ukraine, these countries faced serious challenges partly inflicted by or caused by Russia, but the risk has increased.

And therefore, we need to step up our support and we need a serious discussion, as NATO, on what we could do to strengthen them in the face of Russian threats.