What Does the Government of Georgia Want From NATO?
By Malkhaz Matsaberidze
Monday, July 4, 2022
Against the background of actual distancing from the European Union and broken relations, Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Gharibashvili took part in the NATO summit in Madrid. However, with the statement made before the summit, he questioned the prospect of Georgia joining NATO.
On June 28-30, a NATO summit was held in Madrid, in which, in addition to member states, partners also took part. Georgia was among them. The North Atlantic Alliance had to respond to the challenges the world was facing. A large part of these challenges is related to the new geopolitical reality that followed the Russian attack on Ukraine.
It is important for us that the declaration of the Madrid summit and the new strategic plan contain a promise to continue the partnership with Georgia and once again confirm the decision of the 2008 Bucharest summit that the country will become a member of the alliance.
The document emphasizes that the security of countries seeking to join the alliance is intertwined with the security of NATO, and the alliance supports the independence, sovereignty, and territorial integrity of these countries. Georgia is included in the list of countries that the Alliance promises to help in developing capacities, protecting political independence, and building integrity and resilience.
NATO is ready to help, but as experts point out, in such conditions, the activity of the Georgian government is essential, which should tell them what exactly they need help with. It is clear that against the backdrop of the Russia-Ukraine war, it is first of all important to increase the country's defense capability. Georgia should be able to resist the aggressor who has occupied a fifth of its territory since the 2008 war.
Before the Madrid summit, Prime Minister Irakli Gharibashvili, who for a time also headed the Ministry of Defense, said that during the period of the “Georgian Dream” rule, large-scale projects are being implemented to strengthen the Georgian army and bring it closer to NATO standards.
“Together we opened a joint training center with NATO in Krtsanis, and I think the country has done everything to further increase the compatibility of our army with NATO,” the Prime Minister noted.
This statement of Gharibashvili was immediately followed by criticism. The reality is quite the opposite. According to the data of international organizations, during the last ten years under the rule of Georgian Dream, the armament of the Georgian army has not changed, the government of "Dream" has purchased only 5 tanks, 2 armored vehicles, and air defense systems to increase the defense capability of the country.
Against the background of these data, President Salome Zurabishvili was right, who stated in 2019: “We have no army, no weapons, and we will not have any.”
Experts drew attention to the fact that in the process of rapid accession of Finland and Sweden to the Alliance, there was no talk of offering them an Accession Action Plan (MAP), which has been the instrument for joining the Alliance since 1999. Previously, it was sometimes noted in Georgia that joining the alliance was possible even without MAP.
The decision of the Madrid summit confirmed this assumption, but how useful such an opportunity is for Georgia is another matter, at least the current government of Georgia does not really think so.
Before the Madrid summit, on June 21, during his speech at the Qatar Economic Forum, Irakli Gharibashvili said that he connected Georgia's NATO membership with the restoration of the country's territorial integrity, that is, with the end of the Russian occupation.
“We are not mimics. We understand that Georgia has problems.
We should solve it first and then become a member of NATO. This is the opinion of our European and NATO partners,” said the Prime Minister.
This statement of Gharibashvili was met with great displeasure in the opposition circles, and it was declared "equivalent to capitulation" in relation to Russia. It turned out that Georgia's accession to NATO depends on Russia, which must stop occupying the territory of Georgia, and Putin's Russia is certainly not going to do that.
It is also worth noting that NATO or any of its members have never officially linked Georgia's NATO membership with the restoration of territorial integrity. The authorities of GD were also reminded that during the last years, the Georgian authorities have not officially and openly made a request to join NATO at a high level in any international format.
What Gharibashvili said in Madrid and what was said to him behind closed doors, we will probably never know. Still, it is also a fact that the relations between Georgia and NATO are not created by the strong anti-Western rhetoric in official circles, as if the West wants to involve Georgia in a war with Russia, and Georgia refuses to do so. That's why the government could not obtain the status of an EU candidate for Georgia.