MARCH 26 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — It’s still unclear if Russia’s de facto annexation of Crimea has given Georgia’s drive to become part of NATO any real impetus.

Certainly, the Georgian government was hoping that this was the case. But the signals have been mixed.

At a meeting in Brussels, US President Barack Obama said that neither Georgia or Ukraine would join NATO soon.

“Neither Ukraine nor Georgia are currently on a path to NATO membership,” he said. “There has not been any immediate plans for expansion of NATO’s membership.”

This will have hurt Georgia’s government. It has been a keen supporter of NATO missions, including to Afghanistan. On as TV interview the following day, Georgian President Giorgi Margvelashvili summed up the disappointment.

“Of course it was not a statement that caused much of our delight,” he said.

A week later, though, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen was preparing to make a speech in which he will pledge more support for Georgia.

These are difficult, and confusing, times for aspirant-NATO members.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 178, published on April 2 2014)

MARCH 12 2014 (The Conway Bulletin) — Russia’s annexation of Crimea has, seemingly, changed the world order. Commentators have been discussing a new Cold War and the return of the East-West standoff. Russia’s swift, aggressive action in Crimea has scared the West.

Ironically, one country which may stand to benefit from the Crimea issue is Georgia — which Russia invaded in 2008.

Georgia is the most pro-Western of the former Soviet states of Central Asia and the South Caucasus and it has lobbied hard for membership to NATO and the EU.

But while these Western clubs have welcomed Georgia’s eagerness, they have also sounded caution while its vibrant political system went through the motions of picking a new leader.

Georgia survived the trauma of picking new leaders in 2012 and 2013, underlining its stability and credibility as a democratic nation. If this has endeared Georgia to the West, Russian action in Crimea may have nudged it even further into their arms.

Prominent commentators are now calling for Georgia to be given full membership status of NATO and the EU.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant quoted sources at NATO’s HQ in Brussels and the US State Department.

“If Russia announces annexation of the Crimea, the issue of granting Georgia a MAP (membership action plan) can be considered virtually a foregone conclusion,” Kommersant quoted an unnamed source in the US State Department as saying.

Crimea is now part of Russia. Perhaps it won’t be long before Georgia is finally part of NATO.

ENDS
Copyright ©The Conway Bulletin — all rights reserved

(News report from Issue No. 176, published on March 19 2014)