The North Atlantic Council (NAC) met in a special Foreign Ministerial session on 19 August 2008 to discuss the situation in Georgia and its implications for Euro-Atlantic stability and security. In the meeting, the allies re-affirmed their support for Georgia’s territorial integrity, sovereignty and independence, NATO informs in a press release.
In the press conference following the session, Secretary General underlined that all activities within the NATO-Russia Council.
”The NATO-Russia Council meetings would be placed on hold until Russia adhered to the ceasefire and the future of our relations will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to abide by the … peace plan”. “We are not closing doors”, he said again, but “we…cannot continue with business as usual… as long as Russia does not commit to the principles upon which we agreed to base our relationship”.
Meanwhile U.S. State Secretary Condoleezza Rice says the regular Russian strategic flights along the northern Norwegian coast is a ”demonstration of power” directed against Norwegian authorities, NRK reports. Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre does not agree with Ms Rice’s use of words, but admits that there is all reason to keep a close eye on the Russian bombers flying in the Barents Sea.
As BarentsObserver recently reported, a Russian strategic bomber in late June this year speeded up towards the Norwegian border town of Kirkenes and then made a sharp and provocative turn in front of the border before it disappeared back to the east on the Kola Peninsula.
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