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Obama: ‘We Have to Do More to Help Georgia, Moldova’

NATO has to do more to help its partners, including Georgia and Moldova, to strengthen their defense, U.S. President Barack Obama said in a speech in the Estonian capital Tallinn on September 3.

In the speech in Estonia on the eve NATO summit in Wales, President Obama reiterated commitment to collective defense saying that “Article 5 is crystal clear – an attack on one is an attack on all” and also condemned Russia’s “aggression” and “brazen assault” on the territorial integrity of Ukraine.

“Now, Ukraine needs more than words,” the U.S. President said. “NATO needs to make concrete commitments to help Ukraine modernize and strengthen its security forces.”

“And by the way, we have to do more to help other NATO partners, including Georgia and Moldova, strengthen their defenses as well,” Obama said.

“We must reaffirm the principle that has always guided our alliance. For countries that meet our standards and that can make meaningful contributions to allied security, the door to NATO membership will remain open,” he said.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel plans to visit Georgia just after the NATO summit, which is held in Wales on September 4-5.

The Georgian delegation, led by President Giorgi Margvelashvili will be attending the summit.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on September 1 the package that NATO is considering for Tbilisi at the summit in Wales will include establishing “a defense capacity building mission” and a military training center in Georgia, more Georgian participation in NATO exercises and “occasionally” NATO military exercises in Georgia and expanding NATO liaison office in Tbilisi.

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