Georgia “deserves” to get “a very strong, a very powerful signal” from NATO when the leaders of the alliance member states gather in Chicago next spring for their annual summit, Audronius Ažubalis, the Lithuanian foreign minister, said on September 13.

He said he would not go into specifics of format of possible next stage of NATO-Georgia ties.

“But having in mind what Georgia did in performing military reforms, in performing democratic reforms… and [having in mind Georgia’s] exceptionally strong [participation] in ISAF operation in Afghanistan, it leaves no doubt for me that we should do everything to prove to all NATO-member states that Georgia deserves a very strong and substantial signal in NATO summit in Chicago,” Ažubalis said after meeting with his Georgian counterpart in Tbilisi.

He also said that a visit of NATO’s senior decision-making body, North Atlantic Council (NAC), to Georgia in November would be an important part of those efforts.