NATO enlargement for states, which have expressed desire to join the alliance, “should move forward as each state fulfils the requirements for membership,” says a report by a group of experts, which lays out proposals for NATO’s strategic concept for next decade.

Recommendations were developed by a group of 12 top experts, led by former U.S. Secretary of State, Madeleine Albright, who presented the report to NATO officials in Brussels on May 17.
 
The part of the report under subtitle “Partnership with Georgia and Ukraine” says that “one of the major failures of NATO’s partnership structure” was the August, 2008 between Russia and Georgia.

It says that NATO’s channels of communication with these two countries through NATO-Georgia Commission and NATO-Ukraine Commission “are excellent.”

“The Allies should make regular use of the NATO-Ukraine and NATO-Georgia commissions to discuss mutual security concerns and to foster practical cooperation, including on defence reforms. The clearer NATO articulates its position to the partners and the more accurately it can assess their perceptions, the more adept the Allies will be at defusing crises and building trust,” the report reads.

“The Allies should also employ NATO’s crisis management mechanisms, in association with the partnership commissions, to assess and monitor security developments affecting these two countries,” it says.

The expert group’s report will provide the basis for discussions at NATO's summit in Lisbon in November, which is expected to approve the alliance’s updated strategic concept.