Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you very much to the guests who are appearing before the committee.
I have a question for Professor Welsh. Something that you mentioned that is also discussed in great detail with the strategic concept is the need for NATO to have new membership and to establish a stronger partnership with countries or regions that are not members of the alliance.
You mentioned Georgia and you mentioned that you are not necessarily in favour of the expansion of NATO, despite the fact that NATO has had a crucial role in avoiding conflicts in Europe. Together with the European Union, which recently received the Nobel Prize, and NATO, of which most of the European countries are members, the NATO role was a positive one in avoiding war in Europe.
When you speak about Georgia or other countries, automatically we are going to have a relation with Russia, because they are threatened by the expansion of NATO. In your opinion, how important is it for NATO to continue to build strong relations and partnerships with other nations and, in the meantime, to mitigate the relations with Russia, or to alleviate the syndrome of cornering Russia?