NATO not yet ready to grant Georgia MAP

By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively for Vestnik Kavkaza

Georgian Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze attended a session of the NATO-Georgia Committee yesterday, following the summit of NATO ministers in Brussels. NATO Director General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emphasized at the opening of the session that the committee was organized over the situation in Ukraine. He stressed the importance of cooperation between the government and opposition, hinting at the attempt of Georgian prosecutors to question Mikheil Saakashvili, leader of the United National Movement and ex-president.

Rasmussen noted that success of municipal elections in June will confirm the democratization process in Georgia. Thus, Rasmussen reaffirmed his words said before the parliamentary polls of 2012 and the presidential polls of 2013. However, progress achieved in Georgia has not brought the country anywhere closer to the Membership Action Plan (MAP). This casts doubts on chances of Georgia to be a closer NATO partner after the municipal elections.

The secretary general called Georgia a model for all other countries of the region. Not a single country in South Caucasus has requested NATO membership. Yanukovych’s Ukraine scrapped its bid.

The Alliance head thanked Georgia for its contribution to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. About 1,750 Georgian soldiers and officers serve there. Panjikidze skipped asking whether Georgia will be given the MAP at the Wales summit.

US President Barack Obama has recently stated that Georgia was far from the path to becoming a member of the Alliance, despite efforts of the past 14 years, since President Shevardnadze’s declaration to join it. Iosif Tsintsadze, Rector of the Tbilisi Diplomatic Academy, told Vestnik Kavkaza that NATO’s ditch of Georgia was a hint that Moscow had an informal right to veto the Alliance’s decisions.

By Georgy Kalatozishvili, Tbilisi, exclusively for Vestnik KavkazaGeorgian Foreign Minister Maya Panjikidze attended a session of the NATO-Georgia Committee yesterday, following the summit of NATO ministers in Brussels. NATO Director General Anders Fogh Rasmussen emphasized at the opening of the session that the committee was organized over the situation in Ukraine. He stressed the importance of cooperation between the government and opposition, hinting at the attempt of Georgian prosecutors to question Mikheil Saakashvili, leader of the United National Movement and ex-president.Rasmussen noted that success of municipal elections in June will confirm the democratization process in Georgia. Thus, Rasmussen reaffirmed his words said before the parliamentary polls of 2012 and the presidential polls of 2013. However, progress achieved in Georgia has not brought the country anywhere closer to the Membership Action Plan (MAP). This casts doubts on chances of Georgia to be a closer NATO partner after the municipal elections.The secretary general called Georgia a model for all other countries of the region. Not a single country in South Caucasus has requested NATO membership. Yanukovych’s Ukraine scrapped its bid.The Alliance head thanked Georgia for its contribution to the peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan. About 1,750 Georgian soldiers and officers serve there. Panjikidze skipped asking whether Georgia will be given the MAP at the Wales summit.US President Barack Obama has recently stated that Georgia was far from the path to becoming a member of the Alliance, despite efforts of the past 14 years, since President Shevardnadze’s declaration to join it. Iosif Tsintsadze, Rector of the Tbilisi Diplomatic Academy, told Vestnik Kavkaza that NATO’s ditch of Georgia was a hint that Moscow had an informal right to veto the Alliance’s decision