Georgia, NATO discuss membership
Top Georgian government ministers met NATO's secretary-general Thursday in talks about the former Soviet republic joining the alliance.
Georgian government officials, including Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Issues Giorgi Baramidze, held accession talks with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels.
The Georgian officials subsequently told reporters that their nation "is on the right path," which will hopefully culminate in Tbilisi signing a NATO Membership Action Plan by the end of the year.
The Civil Georgia web site Thursday quoted Baramidze as telling reporters, "Discussions have demonstrated that we are on the right path, meaning that we are achieving all the reform targets ... So we hope to gain a NATO Membership Action Plan by the end of 2006 -- plus or minus several months. If there are some artificial reasons or complaints put forth we will regard this as a negative attitude on the part of certain countries towards Georgia's NATO integration."
NATO membership has long been an aspiration of post-Soviet Georgia. Georgian leaders hope to join the alliance by 2008. During a speech in Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10, 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush told his audience, "We encourage your closer cooperation with NATO."
During his 2006 New Year's address Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that 2006 would be the "year of NATO in Georgia," emphasizing that his country would join the 26-nation alliance by the end of his first presidential term, which expires at the end of 2008.
Local opinion polls reveal that 70 per cent of the Georgian population supports the country's entry into NATO.
Georgian government officials, including Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili, Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili and State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Issues Giorgi Baramidze, held accession talks with North Atlantic Treaty Organization Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in Brussels.
The Georgian officials subsequently told reporters that their nation "is on the right path," which will hopefully culminate in Tbilisi signing a NATO Membership Action Plan by the end of the year.
The Civil Georgia web site Thursday quoted Baramidze as telling reporters, "Discussions have demonstrated that we are on the right path, meaning that we are achieving all the reform targets ... So we hope to gain a NATO Membership Action Plan by the end of 2006 -- plus or minus several months. If there are some artificial reasons or complaints put forth we will regard this as a negative attitude on the part of certain countries towards Georgia's NATO integration."
NATO membership has long been an aspiration of post-Soviet Georgia. Georgian leaders hope to join the alliance by 2008. During a speech in Tbilisi's Freedom Square on May 10, 2005, U.S. President George W. Bush told his audience, "We encourage your closer cooperation with NATO."
During his 2006 New Year's address Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili announced that 2006 would be the "year of NATO in Georgia," emphasizing that his country would join the 26-nation alliance by the end of his first presidential term, which expires at the end of 2008.
Local opinion polls reveal that 70 per cent of the Georgian population supports the country's entry into NATO.
posted by Marko at 4/15/2006 04:57:00 PM
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