On July 11, in a communiqué released by NATO leaders following the Vilnius summit, regarding Georgia, it says that in order to advance Euro-Atlantic aspirations, the country must make progress on reforms, including key democratic reforms.

"We reiterate our support for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within its internationally recognized borders. We firmly support the right to determine one's own future and foreign policy without external interference. We call on Russia to withdraw its troops that are in Georgia without its consent. We also call on Russia to withdraw recognition of the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia; stop the militarization of these regions and attempts to forcibly separate them from the rest of Georgia by erecting border-like barriers; stop human rights violations, including arbitrary detention and harassment of Georgian citizens," the communiqué said.

NATO members also reiterated the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest summit that Georgia would join the alliance with a Membership Action Plan (MAP). "We reiterate the decision taken at the 2008 Bucharest Summit that Georgia will become a member of the alliance with the Membership Action Plan as an integral part of the process; we reaffirm this decision, as well as subsequent decisions. To advance Euro-Atlantic aspirations, Georgia must make progress on reforms, including key democratic reforms, and make maximum use of the National Program (ANP)," the communiqué added.

Response from Georgia

After the summit of the alliance in Vilnius, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said that for Georgia, the readiness of NATO member states to continue work on the implementation of the decision taken at the Bucharest summit that the country will become a member of NATO is extremely important.

"The Georgian side welcomes the firm and unequivocal position of NATO on the inadmissibility of attempts to limit the choice of foreign and security policy of sovereign countries. Taking into account the difficult security situation that has arisen, the recorded support by the Alliance for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia, as well as the call to the Russian Federation to withdraw the illegally stationed occupying forces on the territory of Georgia and refuse to recognize the so-called. independence of the regions of Georgia," Tbilisi added.

Georgia reaffirmed its readiness to continue its active participation in NATO missions and operations. "The Georgian side highly appreciates the decisions taken at the summit regarding strengthening the defense capability and interoperability of Georgia and expresses gratitude for the important assistance provided by the member states in implementing the significant NATO-Georgia package of measures. Georgia supports the decisions taken at the summit to strengthen the security of the eastern flank of NATO and the Black Sea region and confirms its readiness to continue participating in the strategic dialogue on the Black Sea region," the Georgian Foreign Ministry said.

Georgia also welcomed the agreement reached at the summit to complete the accession process of Sweden and other decisions regarding Ukraine, and, as a pretender country, highly appreciated all the steps taken to implement the open-door policy. "Georgia, within the framework of constitutional norms, will continue to effectively use the existing tools for integration," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

The opposition criticized the ruling party for not acting efficiently enough before and during the summit. Khatia Dekanoidze, an opposition member of the Georgian parliament, said that Georgia’s NATO integration process could not be qualitatively improved under this government. She added, "It is important that the commitment to territorial integrity, the commitment to the Bucharest Summit was recorded in the communique, but it is very important to understand that the integration of Georgia into NATO has practically disappeared from any rhetoric on the part of the Georgian authorities.

There is much more clarity concerning Ukraine. In 2024, after the victory of Ukraine, there is a very high probability that Ukraine will become a member of the alliance at the Washington Summit. Therefore it is very important to understand that what is happening in terms of integration into NATO is solely the responsibility of the "Georgian Dream," Dekanoidze said.