No fast-track NATO membership for Georgia
German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 24 August ruled out any fast-track NATO membership for Georgia, ten years after the alliance's leaders pledged the ex-Soviet nation would join the club.
During a meeting with students at the Tbilisi State University in the Georgian capital, Merkel said: ‘I do not see Georgia's prompt accession to NATO (membership), this is the position of Germany.’
‘Things come gradually,’ she said of the country's NATO integration during the first leg of her regional trip to the South Caucasus.
At a summit in Bucharest in 2008, NATO leaders said Georgia would become a NATO member at some point, but – under pressure from Merkel and France's then-president Nicolas Sarkozy – refused to put the tiny Black Sea nation on a formal membership path.
Georgia's bid to join the 29-nation military alliance has infuriated its Soviet-era master Russia.
Years of increasing tensions culminated in August 2008 with a brief war over Georgia's Moscow-backed separatist regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The war – which saw Russian troops routing Georgia's small military in just five days – claimed the lives of hundreds of people from both sides.
After the conflict, Russia recognised the two enclaves as independent states and stationed permanent military bases there.
The move constitutes ‘an occupation of 20% of Georgia's territory and a great injustice,’ Merkel told students.
In a symbolic move, Merkel on 24 August also went to the administrative boundary with South Ossetia, where Russian border guards have set up barbed wire fences.
On 24 August evening, she will travel to Armenia and on to Azerbaijan, where she will encourage ‘a peaceful and consensual solution’ to the two countries' long-running territorial conflict over the Nagorny Karabakh region, her office has said.
In Azerbaijan she is expected to discuss energy cooperation with the oil-rich Caspian nation, which is seen as one option for reducing Europe's reliance on Russian natural gas and oil.
You may also like
More from Defence Notes
-
![Top-level commitments but no meat in UK Defence Industrial Strategy’s Statement of Intent]()
Top-level commitments but no meat in UK Defence Industrial Strategy’s Statement of Intent
The initial document focused more on creating the right partnerships and inspiring investment in defence than on any details of how future UK Armed Forces would be armed.
-
![UK begins process on new industrial strategy]()
UK begins process on new industrial strategy
The first stage of developing a new UK Defence Industrial Strategy has highlighted failings in current structures with solutions expected to be proposed in next year’s full strategy.
-
![Romanians put pro-Russian candidate into presidential runoff even as the government spends west]()
Romanians put pro-Russian candidate into presidential runoff even as the government spends west
Romania joined NATO more than two decades ago and the country is vital to the alliance’s geographic reach and its ability to supply Ukraine with weapons.
-
![What the future holds for Ukraine and NATO under a Trump administration]()
What the future holds for Ukraine and NATO under a Trump administration
Although Trump’s geopolitics policy for Europe remains unclear, defence analysts from the US and Europe predict how his incoming administration would attempt to handle critical issues on the continent.
-
![RUSI deputy: UK needs longer procurement plans and improved awareness of US sift to Indo-Pacific]()
RUSI deputy: UK needs longer procurement plans and improved awareness of US sift to Indo-Pacific
The UK budget announced in Parliament on 30 October was the first by a Labour government in 14 years which has also launched a review into defence procurement programmes.
-
![Australia outlines longer punch and brings local industry onboard]()
Australia outlines longer punch and brings local industry onboard
The Australian government has placed a focus on Guided Weapons and Explosive Ordnance (GWEO) which has included the purchase of additional long-range rocket systems and investments in local production of missiles.
