Georgia accuses NATO of inaccurate translation of Treaty

Throughout the past years, NATO has been misleading the people of Georgia with the help of an inaccurate translation of the North Atlantic Treaty, which omits a reservation that the alliance’s members help one another only if they deem it necessary, the Georgian party People’s Power, which is part of the parliamentary majority, said.

"Unlike the original, an essential part that says about the use of armed force was removed from the Georgian version. The key article stipulating that each country makes its own decision on whether to use or not to use military assistance as it deems necessary, has vanished from the original treaty in its translation. The Georgian version presents it in such a manner that if an attack against NATO members occurs, all the countries must engage in military confrontation and to protect the ally from this aggression. There is a question who and why believed it necessary to conduct propaganda based on lies for years and to persuade the people of Georgia that NATO membership a priori means security and guaranteed peace," the statement reads.

The party cited the English and Georgian versions of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty. The translation of Article 5 into Georgian reads that if such an armed attack occurs, each of them will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith such action, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area. The English version contains a reservation that the countries will take "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force."

The party assumes that NATO has been exploiting the Treaty as a tool of influence, noting that people were made to believe that salvation was only through NATO membership.

In addition, the party said that over the past decades, Georgia has been listening to "the empty promises".