Georgia should make use of NATO's cooperation mechanisms – Lithuanian formin

VILNIUS – Georgia should make full use of the cooperation mechanisms offered by NATO, Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis said on Tuesday after meeting with his Georgian counterpart Ilia Darchiashvili in Vilnius on Tuesday.

"We are talking to Georgia as a NATO partner whose resistance to Russian imperialist ambitions and hybrid threats we must jointly strengthen. At the moment, Ukraine's victory in the war against Russian aggression as soon as possible is our common interest because only then will it be possible to get rid of the "grey areas" on the European security map," Lithuania's top diplomat was quoted as saying in a statement issued by the Foreign Ministry.

The two ministers also discussed the difficult regional security situation following Russia's unprovoked military aggression against Ukraine, the statement reads.

They also talked about Georgia's EU membership prospects. Lithuania consistently supports Georgia's European and Euro-Atlantic integration, Landsbergis said and also urged the country's government to continue its reforms and to fully implement the 12 priorities set out by the European Commission in order to achieve EU candidate status.

"It's important not to lose the achieved significant progress and continue reforms, and not to lose the sight of the EU's core values and principles, including democracy, human rights and the rule of law, as they will be the basis for the decision to grant Georgia the EU candidate at the end of the year," Landsbergis said.

The Lithuanian and Georgian foreign ministers are attending the NATO summit in Vilnius on Tuesday.