NATO Deputy Secretary General Geoana discusses Ukraine issue during US visit

Europe, News, US May 14, 2022 , by IRIA No Comments

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana concluded his five-day visit to the United States

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana visited Washington D.C. from May 7 to 11 to hold a series of meetings with high-level U.S. officials including Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman, Under Secretary of Defense Colin Kahl, Homeland Security Advisor Elizabeth Sherwood-Randall, National Security Advisor to Vice-President Philip Gordon and Deputy National Security Advisor Anne Neuberger.

During his visit, the NATO official also met with the U.S. Congress members, including Senators Jeanne Shaheen and Thom Tillis – Co-Chairs of the Senate NATO Observer, and the US House of Representatives, including Rep. Gerry Connolly, President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, and Rep. Michael Turner, Ranking Member of the Select Intelligence Committee.

After meeting with the NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Wendy Sherman posted on her Twitter “We agreed on the importance of continuing to support Ukraine. We also discussed work on the new Strategic Concept that NATO will adopt at Madrid Summit to further strengthen Transatlantic security and prosperity.”

NATO deputy secretary general during his meeting with U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen discussed the upcoming NATO Summit and agreed to bolster Ukraine’s defenses and expand the NATO alliance’s membership.

*^{U.S. Senator Jeanne Shaheen with NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană during a meeting with the Senate NATO Observer Group. (Image Credit: Twitter/@SenatorShaheen)}*

While in the U.S., NATO Deputy Secretary General Geoana gave a keynote address at a public event celebrating 25 years of the Romania-US strategic partnership, co-hosted by the Meridian International Center and the Romanian Embassy in Washington, D.C. During the event, Geoana emphasized the critical role of “NATO’s open-door policy and the enlargement of the European Union” in spreading “freedom, democracy, and human rights” across Central and Eastern Europe.

Mircea Geoana also highlighted that “NATO enlargement is the result of sovereign choices by independent nations to define their own destiny, and to join a family of free nations”.

According to the NATO press release, Geoana outlined “the economic benefits that NATO’s strong security guarantee has brought to members, making these countries safer, freer, richer, and more open than could have been imagined a generation ago.

NATO deputy secretary general “warned that these benefits cannot be taken for granted, noting that Putin’s war in Ukraine demonstrates the fragility of peace. He said that the war represents an attempt to destroy the international rules-based system that has preserved peace and ensured prosperity for decades, stressing that the war cannot be allowed to succeed,” the statement added.

*^{NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană giving a keynote address at a public event celebrating 25 years of the Romania-US strategic partnership in Washington, D.C. (Image Credit: NATO)}*

On May 11, Geoana attended an event at Hudson Institute where he said “Europe and North America together in NATO can better deal with a more dangerous security environment”, protecting all NATO Allies and defending every inch of NATO territory.

According to the NATO release, Geoana also stated that “NATO has shown remarkable unity since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, reinforcing collective defense and providing substantial support to the Ukrainian government and people… NATO’s continued unity is key to uphold the rules-based international order that is increasingly under pressure.”

NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana earlier served as Romanian ambassador to Washington D.C., where he advocated for his country’s accession to NATO.