NEWPORT, (Great Britain), September 3 (RIA Novosti) – NATO is not planning to make any decisions on accepting new members to the alliance during the upcoming summit in Wales, a senior representative of the alliance said during press briefing on Wednesday.
“During this summit, we do not plan to make any decisions about accepting new members,” NATO representative said.
He argued that other issues will be discussed, such as expansion of cooperation between existing NATO members and partner states of the alliance, such as Sweden, Georgia and Finland.
The summit, which is scheduled for September 4 - 5, is expected to be attended by leaders and senior ministers from over 60 countries, including US President Barack Obama, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande.
“There will be a sizeable package for Georgia. There will be more NATO personnel in Georgia, and more Georgian personnel in NATO… You will see that the Georgian infrastructure will become available for NATO’s logistics and training. Georgia will become a closer partner; its representatives will take part in some of our strategic discussions. It is very important that it will help Georgian defense to strengthen it defense potential,” NATO representative added.
Earlier this week, NATO Secretary General Andrers Fogh Rasmussen said that the alliance plans to hold military drills and establish a military training center in Georgia.
Following Crimea’s reunification with Russia in March 2014, NATO has been boosting its military presence close to Russia’s border. In particular, dispatching a number of warships to the Black Sea and reinforcing air patrolling missions in Baltic airspace.
In April, Washington sent four airborne units to Poland, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia to support its NATO allies amid the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
Russia has repeatedly expressed concern over the increasing NATO military presence in neighboring states.
