NATO to Back Georgia
August 18th, 2008Via: Reuters:
NATO ministers will pledge support for Georgia and reiterate a promise of future membership on Tuesday while criticising Russian intervention in the country and urging Moscow to respect a peace deal, a spokeswoman said.
Washington called an emergency meeting of the 26 NATO foreign ministers to review ties with Moscow and discuss help to Georgia, a former part of the Soviet Union which won its pledge of eventual alliance membership at an April summit in Bucharest.
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A NATO spokeswoman played down reports of divisions among NATO allies on the response to Russia, saying ministers would deliver “a very clear message of solidarity to Georgia”.
“We will reaffirm the commitment in Bucharest and the meeting is also expected to approve a package of measures to support Georgia,” Carmen Romero said.
NATO states were expected to agree to send experts to assess damage to Georgia’s military infrastructure, including radar installations damaged by Russian action, she said.
Romero said there was expected to be a “strong message” to Russia calling for implementation of a ceasefire, its commitment to withdraw troops and an international peace mechanism.
“I think the allies are going to be firm that this was a violation of Georgia’s territorial integrity,” she said.
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However analysts say isolating Moscow does not seem to be a viable option for Bush as Russia is just too important. If ties were to deteriorate to Cold War level, a lot is at stake, from U.N. cooperation on curbing Iran and North Korea’s nuclear ambitions to U.S. access to Asia and Afghanistan.
Russia is also a key energy supplier that some big European NATO members like France and Germany are loath to antagonise.
Russia was incensed by NATO’s promise of membership to Georgia. This would take NATO right up to Russia’s southern border and many analysts believe that and a similar promise of membership for Ukraine was behind this month’s fighting.
