“South Ossetia and Abkhazia are parts of Georgia,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated NATO’s unwavering support for Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, in a joint briefing with Georgia’s Prime Minister in Tbilisi.

“Dear Irakli, it’s great to see you again. It’s good to be back in Baku and it’s good to be here. This visit, of course, reflects how much we value the partnership between Georgia and NATO. And, I also welcome the fact that you just a few weeks ago visited Brussels. Now I’m here, and it demonstrates also that we have an active political dialogue as part of our partnership.

Georgia is one of NATO’s closest partners. We highly appreciate your substantial contributions to NATO missions and operations, and we fully support Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia are parts of Georgia. NATO continues to call on Russia to reverse the recognition of Georgian territories as independent states. Russia’s organization of elections in the occupied parts of Georgia and Ukraine is completely illegal. Russia’s presidential election was clearly neither free nor fair,” he stated.