It is important Georgia lives up to the democratic values we all believe in. such a statement made the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the Brussels Forum.

“I think that Georgia is part of the pattern because it didn’t start out as I said, it started in 2014 while the war in Ukraine started in 2014 but Russia’s aggressive actions against neighbors didn"t start in 2014, at least it started in 2018, sorry 2008, with invasion into Georgia.

So it is this pattern, that is a stark reminder of that, this is not only about this war in Ukraine, it is about that the relationship we tried at the end of the Cold War to build with Russia, a better, friendlier relationship has failed because of Russia’s aggressive behavior. They want to re-establish spheres of influence to control neighbors and of course, that"s not the world we would like to live in because that means that a lot of neighbors, former Soviet republics and members of the Warsaw Pact, will not have the independence, we strongly believe that all countries should have.

Therefore, NATO has worked with Georgia for many, many years, we have helped to implement reforms, practical, political cooperation. And of course, after the war we have also seen that countries which are neither, which I would call them sometimes “in between”, which is I think not the best phrase but which are not NATO Allies, but then try to also resist coercion from Russia. They are vulnerable. So we are, we decided at the Madrid Summit to step up what we do for these countries on the verge, Georgia is one of the strongest examples. Having said that, I think also we have to understand that it is important Georgia lives up to the democratic values we all believe in. And of course, we also expect non-NATO Allies to adhere to the sanctions and to not make it easier for Russia to finance and to organise the war of aggression against Ukraine”, - said Jens Stoltenberg.