NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg touched upon the issue of Georgian membership to NATO in his statement at the press conference ahead of the meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Brussels on 23 March.

At the press conference, Stoltenberg conveyed support to Georgia’s efforts to join NATO.

“NATO supports Georgia's efforts to join NATO. We support Georgia in different ways, including by supporting reforms, strengthening democratic institutions and we will continue to do so,” he noted.

Secretary-General also stressed one important issue that Russia has no right to block Georgia from joining NATO.

According to him, Russia is an actor that prevent the countries to join NATO.

“It is only up to NATO and the aspirant country to decide whether a country becomes a member of NATO or not. It is a sovereign right of every nation, including Georgia, Ukraine, and Bosnia and Herzegovina, to choose their path, and no one ‘from the outside’ is eligible to interfere in that process,” he said.

Some experts considered that Stoltenberg’s statement on Georgia’s aspirations to join NATO is a direct message to Moscow.

Speaking to Eurasia Diary, Nikoloz Vashakidze, former deputy minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, and Chairman of Political Council of the European Democrats Party of Georgia, made brief comments on the prospects of Georgia’s relations with NATO.

Viewing Stoltenberg’s statement, according to Vashakidze, NATO and its member states delivered a standard message to Russia.

“Indeed, it's a standard message that is constantly delivered by NATO or member states' officials. It is based on basic principles of international law, Vashakidze said.

Stressing the issue of Georgian membership to NATO, we should comprehend that, according to the rules of NATO, the country, which has durable conflict in its territory, cannot join NATO. Since 1991, Georgia has engaged in the resistance against Ossetian and Abkhazian separatists in its territory. As well, Russia has occupied South Ossetia and Abkhazia –de-jure parts of the internationally recognized territory of Georgia since 2008.

Georgian membership will urge NATO and its members to bear responsibility for the restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia, and even they could involve in the confrontation with Russia.

For Vashakidze, it is possible for Georgia to join the NATO alliance without the return of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. He said that Georgia has unequivocally expressed its political commitment to refrain from the restoration of its territorial integrity by force.

“It was possible based on precedent when the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) joined NATO without the eastern part of the country, which according to the German law belonged to the FRG. Restoration of the territorial integrity of Georgia will always be an important task for its political agenda, as well as for its partner countries and the international community, but it always will be considered in the framework of peaceful political solutions,” he noted.

Furthermore, a Georgian expert commented on whether Georgia is ready to join NATO nowadays.

“As you know, the standard procedure of becoming a NATO member is not a one day process. It considers at least two steps on its last stage, the first of which is entering and implementation of Membership Action Plan. After final adjustment of a real commitment to democracy and rule of law, it will be ready for this last stage, and it will only be on a political decision of member states,” he added.

by Yunis Abdullayev