Will Georgia be invited to join NATO?

The US Republican senator Richard Lugar initiated the project on further enhancement of the NATO urging the administration of President Obama to present a “clear road map” for accession of Georgia and some East European countries during the summit in Chicago. Georgian politicians and experts think that Lugar’s Act would hardly influence decisions of the NATO summit, but Tbilisi hopes that due to pressure of the Republicans, the Democratic administration would have to pay attention to the security problems of Georgia.

The Republican senator from Indiana, the chairman of the Committee for Foreign Affairs in the Senate, Richard Lugar, explained his Enhancement Act by necessity of further improving of strategic partnership between the USA and allies of the alliance. “Enhancement of the NATO will improve stability and promote political reforms in new democracies of Central and East Europe,” the senator’s statement says, it is published in http://lugar.senate.gov/record.cfm?id=336260&. “The prospect of entering the NATO would not only improve regional security, but turn the countries into reliable partners of the USA in the economic and security spheres.”

The Enhancement Act confirms the policy of “open doors” for all countries-candidates and their right for joining the alliance without “privileged interest spheres,” which were mentioned by President of Russia Medvedev right after the military conflict with Georgia in August 2008. The Act legally assigns the status of a “NATO candidate” to Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, Macedonia and Montenegro. It urges Obama to develop a “clear road map” on their accession to the NATO by the summit in Chicago. The document emphasizes support of sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia. In this context Senator Lugar underlined importance of development of the European missile defense system. “I hope the Senate adopts the act ahead of the NATO summit in May in Chicago,” Lugar said presenting the act.

Richard Lugar has many times visited Georgia, each time expressing support to “Euro-Atlantic striving” of Georgia. However, the majority of Georgian experts thinks that even if the Senate adopts the act, White House and some European countries wouldn’t make Moscow angry and put the process of “Reload” at risk. “It is notable that Republican Lugar initiated such act few months before the presidential elections, ahead of which Barak Obama has found himself in a difficult situation,” the independent expert Iosif Tsintsadze told VK. “To preserve “Reload” he has already met Putin halfway and shifted their meeting from Chicago to Camp David. I think due to irresistible obstacles built by the government of Germany, for example, the summit in Chicago would only declare that Georgia will be the NATO member someday, but there would be no breakthrough in giving Membership Acting Plan to our country.”

The Georgian opposition thinks that even though Georgian wouldn’t get a “road map” in Chicago, the imitative by the American senator would influence positively the US attitude to the security problems of Georgia: “The point is that the summit in Chicago is not devoted to enhancement of the alliance. Afghanistan will be the main topic of discussion,” one of the leaders of the opposition party Free Democrats, the former ambassador of Georgia in the OSCE, Viktor Dolidze, told VK.

Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi. Exclusively to VK