Any country, regardless
\nof size or geographic position, has a fundamental right to decide its path and
\nthe alliances it wishes to join, said NATO deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoan\u0103 at
\nthe end of the Friday’s NATO Foreign Minister summit. The NATO officials
\nconvened in videoconference format to discuss the security implications of
\nRussia’s unjustified and unprovoked military build-up outside Ukraine, a
\ncountry aspiring to become a full NATO member. The Allies have again called on
\nMoscow to renounce its aggressive rhetoric targeting its allies and withdraw
\nits military forces, so as to de-escalate the situation by means of dialogue
\nand peace. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
We support Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. And we
\nstand united in the defense and protection of all Allies. NATO remains open to a
\nsubstantial dialogue at the upcoming NATO-Russia Council on January 12. This will
\npresent Russia with an opportunity to prove its real openness to dialogue,
\ndiplomacy and observing international commitments and standards. We won’t compromise
\non any fundamental principle of security, enshrined in the Washington
\nTreaty, Mircea Geoan\u0103 wrote on Facebook. Attending Friday’s meeting was also Romania’s
\nForeign Minister, Bogdan Aurescu. The Romanian official reiterated our country’s
\nconcern regarding Russia’s military build-up close to the Alliance’s borders, and
\ncalled on de-escalating the situation. Referring to this complex security situation,
\nMinister Aurescu insisted on the need to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and
\ndefense posture in a coherent and comprehensive way across NATO’s eastern flank,
\nparticularly in the Black Sea region. <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to a Foreign Ministry release,
\nMinister Aurescu also argued in favor of NATO’s dual approach to Russia,
\nconsisting of both firm and reliable deterrence actions, as well as dialogue,
\nwithout affecting the principles, values and commitments of the Alliance. NATO,
\nBogdan Aurescu argues, is particularly responsible for preserving the European
\nsecurity architecture and the international rules-based order. The Romanian
\nofficial also referred to NATO’s continuous cooperation with the European Union
\nas a key pillar of the Western community, as well as with NATO’s partners in its
\nvicinity, supporting their resilience and an open-door policy. The NATO-Russian
\nCouncil of January 12 will be preceded by a NATO-Ukraine Committee meeting on
\nJanuary 11. (VP)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Foreign Minister Bogdan Aurescu has expressed concern over Russia’s military build-up close to NATO borders<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":109,"featured_media":84299,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[37738],"tags":[28963,40439,40438],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-90833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-today-in-the-news","tag-bogdan-aurescu","tag-nato-security","tag-nato-russia-council"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n