Georgia and NATO Totally Explained

Everything about Georgia And Nato totally explained

Georgia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) signed the agreement on the appointment of Partnership for Peace (PfP) on February 14, 2005. The liaison officer between them came into force then and was assigned to Georgia. On March 2, 2005, the agreement was signed on the provision of the host nation supporting and aiding transit of NATO forces and NATO personnel. On March 6-9, 2006, the IPAP implementation interim assessment team arrived in Tbilisi. On April 13, 2006, the discussion of the assessment report on implementation of the Individual Partnership Action Plan was held at NATO Headquarters, within 26+1 format. In 2006, the Georgian parliament voted unanimously for the bill which calls for the integration of Georgia into NATO. A majority of Georgians and politicians in Georgia support the movement for NATO membership. Georgia hopes to gain NATO membership in 2009. On January 5, 2008 Georgia held a non-binding referendum on NATO membership, and 77% voted in favor.

Russian Interests in Georgia

NATO's extension towards Eastern Europe is one of the main arguments used by both Moscow and Abkhazia to sustain a Russian presence in the separatist regions not recognized de jure by any state in the world. Moscow sees NATO's eastward expansion as a threat against Russian strategic interests in Europe and has accused the West of having double standards. Georgia believes that membership of NATO is a guarantee of stability in the region and considers Russia a dangerous neighbour who many think was behind the tensions that began in 1990s and left tens of thousands dead. This view was once again confirmed by the referendum in which most Georgians were in favour of NATO membership.
During the NATO summit in Bucharest George W. Bush called for Georgia to be allowed to join the Membership Action Plan (MAP). The alliance decided not to offer Georgia a MAP due to opposition of several countries, led by Germany and France, who feared the decision would anger Russia, but NATO countries assured the Georgian side in a special communique that they'd eventually join the alliance and pledged to review the decision in December 2008 at the meeting of NATO foreign ministers

The Bucharest Summit Aftermath

Even though NATO's decision not to give Georgia a MAP at least for now made Russian officials feel better, NATO communique promising country the eventual membership still angered Moscow. After the summit, Russian president Vladimir Putin sent a letter to the leaders of unrecognized separatist regions reassuring them of his support, and even promising to open official Russian representations in the regions - the move Georgia said violates the international law and considers it a direct attack on a sovereign state.
On April 11, 2008 head of the Russian military, general Yuri Baluyevsky stated that if Georgia joins the alliance,"Russia will take steps aimed at ensuring its interests along its borders and these won't only be military steps, but also steps of a different nature". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia released a statement that said that it was "a demonstration of open aggression against Georgia" and called on international community to react adequately on that "serious threat".

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