Defence Minister says not getting MAP in 2015 will be tragedy
By Gvantsa Gabekhadze
Friday, July 31
Georgia’s Defense Minister Tina Khidasheli says that if Georgia does not get the Membership Action Plan ( MAP) from NATO it will not be the end of the country, but it will indeed be a tragedy.
Khidasheli made the statement for the German newspaper Kurier.
Khidasheli says that Georgia’s patience is expiring and at the same time the country might face external threats.
“If Russia gains success in Ukraine It will not satisfy only with its success in that country,” Khidasheli says. “It is time when we need definite solutions,” she added.
Khidasheli stated that Georgia’s occupied regions might be hindering Georgia’s NATO participation. However, the occupied regions should not be any obstacle in the process of getting MAP.
The current Georgian government states that the country’s intentions to the EU and NATO are irreversible.
However, the approach is much disliked by Russia.
Based on the resent statements of the Russian officials, the Kremlin will not allow the further empowerment of NATO at Russian borders.
For its part, NATO says that its door is open for Georgia. However, at the 2015 NATO summit we received a substantial package of the organization rather than the MAP we have been asking for four several years.
There are groups of politicians in Georgia, the head of the opposition Democratic Movement-United Georgia Nino Burjanadze among them, who stress that the improvement of relations with Russia and refusing “abstract intentions” of participation in the alliance would be more beneficial for Georgia.
She stresses that the alliance will not accept Georgia until we have the de-facto regions back under control.
