NATO continues to strengthen its position in the Black Sea region in connection with the enhancement of Russian's military presence in Crimea, said NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg in the run-up to the Foreign Affairs Council of NATO member countries.
''The Black Sea region is of strategic importance for NATO and its allies... We closely cooperate with our valuable partners Georgia and Ukraine. In this regard, NATO maintains its large presence in the Black Sea area and will strengthen the partnership with the above-mentioned countries in the future, he noted.
The Secretary-General mentioned particularly the Multinational Brigade, located in the Romanian city Craiova, within Enhanced Forward Presence in the south-eastern part of NATO.
"We see that Russia continues to violate the territorial integrity and sovereignty of these two countries, in particular, through the illegal annexation of Crimea and the presence of Russian troops in parts of Georgia," Stoltenberg emphasized.
He also stressed strengthening NATO's presence in the Black Sea region will be discussed on December 2 with the heads of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and Georgia Dmitro Kuleba and David Zalkaliani.
