A brief overview of Georgia – NATO relations

Last week, The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebrated the 70 year anniversary of signing the North Atlantic Treaty on 4 April 1949 in Washington DC.

During the celebration, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg reiterated his support of Georgia – “[Ukraine and Georgia are] sovereign countries with a sovereign right to choose their own path”.

Last month, during his official visit to Georgia, he emphasized the importance of Georgia to NATO missions - “You are the largest non-NATO contributor to our Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. You contribute to the NATO Response Force”.

During his visit, Stoltenberg also expressed willingness to continue assisting Georgia - “we will continue working together to prepare for Georgia's NATO membership," adding that no country has any right to interfere with NATO's open-door policy.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Davit Zalkaliani was also present at the ceremony. In his speech, he emphasized that “Georgia’s foreign policy priority is the integration into Euro-Atlantic structures”.

NATO – Georgia relations have come a long way in the past decade.

1994 marked the official beginning of Georgia - NATO relations when Georgia joined the NATO-run Partnership for Peace. After the Rose Revolution in 2003, the new government expressed its interest in Georgia’s eventual accession into NATO.

Bucharest summit in 2008 was monumental for Georgia, as well as Ukraine. The NATO members agreed that these countries will become members of NATO. The Bucharest Summit Declaration reads: “NATO welcomes Ukraine’s and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations for membership in NATO. We agreed today that these countries will become members of NATO. Both nations have made valuable contributions to Alliance operations. We welcome the democratic reforms in Ukraine and Georgia …MAP is the next step for Ukraine and Georgia on their direct way to membership. Today we make clear that we support these countries’ applications for MAP”.

Since 2008, through numerous momentous reforms, Georgia has taken significant steps forward in improving the level of democracy, media independence, economic growth and increased its military capabilities and involvement in the NATO missions.

Nevertheless, eleven years on from the Bucharest Summit, despite the support of the Secretary-General and Georgia’s constant pace of development, there is still no Membership Action Plan (MAP) for Georgia.

One of the major reasons for this is hesitancy from the NATO member states. Georgia’s territorial integrity has been compromised significantly, with 20% being occupied by Russia. Even though Stoltenberg has mentioned that Russia can’t have an influence over NATO’s decisions, it is apparent that when it comes to Georgia and Ukraine, NATO members can’t turn a blind eye to their power. Russia continues to reinforce its military presence in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and Samachablo, while also recognizing the regions’ statehood. Vladimir Putin has maintained its principal opposition to Georgia’s NATO membership throughout the years.

Andres Fogh Rasmussen, a former Secretary General of NATO, published a letter dedicated to the 70th anniversary of NATO. In the letter, he discussed titled NATO’s duty at 70 and discussed his visions and ideas regarding the Alliance. He also mentioned Georgia and the issue of MAP and called it a mistake that the country didn’t receive the action plan back in 2008:

“in April 2008, NATO allies met in Bucharest to discuss offering a Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia and Ukraine. At the insistence of Germany and France, we decided to postpone that decision until the end of the year. In my view, that was a mistake. Just months after our summit, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered the invasion of Georgia, and Russia has occupied Abkhazia and South Ossetia ever since.”

In the letter, Rasmussen also mentioned that there were red flags during the Bucharest summit that indicated the annexation of Crimea in 2014: “[Putin issued statements] that Ukraine’s population is one-third Russian, or that it existed in its current form only because of a decision by the Soviet Union. Moreover, then-Polish President Lech Kaczynski had warned at the time of the Georgia invasion that Ukraine would be next. But these early red flags went unheeded.”

Former Secretary-General praised Georgia’s and Ukraine’s efforts and the significant progress that the countries made toward meeting the criteria for NATO membership: “The prospect of an ever-closer relationship with NATO has provided an impetus for critical democratic and military reforms, and both countries now contribute regularly to NATO missions, more so even than many member states. Still, Georgia and Ukraine will need to undertake further reforms before they can meet the standards for full NATO membership.”

Rasmussen also highlighted that Russian factor should not hinder Georgia’s and Ukraine’s aspirations: “Given the stakes, NATO member states should move beyond offering warm words about the democratic will of the Georgian and Ukrainian people, and acknowledge the disruptive role that Kremlin paranoia is playing in the accession process. We should continue to extend our hand in peace to Putin’s Russia, provided it changes its behavior. But we must not condemn aspirant countries to an indefinite “deep freeze” just to appease a strategic adversary.” He said that NATO would be neglecting its duty if it allowed that to happen, echoing the statement made by the current Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

In the current international atmosphere, where numerous threats are growing and pose threat to the peace and security of the Western nations, NATO seems more vulnerable than ever before, therefore it has to stand strong to fulfill its main duty of protecting European states. Finally granting Georgia MAP and a privilege to contribute and benefit from the eventual membership will be a strong message sent to Russia: that despite their attempts to hinder the development of Georgia and Ukraine, NATO and its allies still remain strong supporters of the countries. If there won’t be meaningful steps taken towards Georgia’s and Ukraine’s accession, Russia will only further abuse the hesitation of the member states and will continue its vile and corrupt policy in the neighborhood.