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Saturday 20th of April 2024, 00:30 CET |
| Kuchma visits Georgia |
December 18, 2002
Associated Press
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Posted by HW on April 20, 2024
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NATO cooperation
The leaders of Georgia and Ukraine pledged Wednesday to strengthen their cooperation with NATO, but Ukrainian President Leonid Kuchma acknowledged his country had a long way to go to fulfill its hopes of joining the alliance.
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said the leaders gave special attention to relations with NATO during talks in the capital Tbilisi. He expressed hopes that a future third wave of the alliance's expansion would include Ukraine "and possibly Georgia."
Final configuration European security
Kuchma said last's month's NATO summit in Prague, Czech Republic — where the alliance invited the Baltic nations of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania as well as Bulgaria, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia — didn't represent "the final configuration of European security."
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Not soon
Still, Kuchma said Ukraine wouldn't likely join the alliance soon, as the former Soviet republic needs to reform not only its military but also establish firm democratic structures.
"We are at the beginning step of this process," he said.
Other agreements
During their meeting, the leaders also signed agreements to cooperate in agriculture and quarantine procedures. Kuchma was also visiting a Georgian oil company before leaving Thursday to visit Uzbekistan. |
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