NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Thursday that the meeting with Georgia’s new Foreign Minister Ilia Darchiashvili was “special” to him, saying “it demonstrates the strength and importance of the partnership between Georgia and NATO.”

Pleased to meet with NATO SG @jensstoltenberg within the scope of the NATO Foreign Ministerial Meeting. His personal support for ??’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration is much appreciated. Looking forward for strengthening bonds between Georgia and the Alliance. pic.twitter.com/Un7RENLu5q

— Ilia Darchiashvili (@iliadarch) April 7, 2022

During the press point, Jens Stoltenberg said the parties also had a bilateral meeting “and I think it is important that we have close contact with Georgia and also with the new Foreign Minister.”

“We are also working on how to further strengthen the partnership including by improving and strengthening the package we have already agreed, and to add more to this package including issues related to security, communications, resilience and cyber. So, we are looking at how we can how further strengthen both political and practical cooperation and partnership with Georgia,” Jens Stoltenberg noted.

NATO Chief hopes allies will agree that NATO’s door remains open and also “allies will agree on the importance of further strengthening to work with partners, including those partners like Georgia.”

“The strategic concept will be agreed at the summit in Madrid but I expect allies will agree that NATO’s door remains open and also allies will agree on the importance of further strengthening to work with partners, including those partners like Georgia which are under pressure which are under pressure from Russia and to step up the cooperation and support to those partners,” Jens Stoltenberg stated.

Earlier today, NATO Foreign Ministers agreed “to help other partners to strengthen their resilience and shore up their ability to defend themselves, including Georgia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.”

“For Georgia, we could increase our support through the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package, including in areas like situational awareness, secure communications, and cyber,” NATO Chief stated.