Georgia's path 'wide open'

2008-09-17 07:25

Tbilisi - Nato chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Tuesday said Georgia's path to Nato membership was "wide open" and warned Russia against interfering, as he assessed the damage from last month's war.

His comments came towards the end of a two-day visit to this former Soviet republic during which he was accompanied by the alliance's 26 ambassadors.

While acknowledging doubts among some Nato members, the Nato secretary general said Russia had no veto on enlargement.

With its military thrust into Georgia and its recognition of the independence of two Georgian rebel regions, Moscow had isolated itself, he said.

"While the events of last month may have been a setback, the road to Nato is still wide open to Georgia," De Hoop Scheffer told university students.

Later, he toured the city of Gori, close to where Russian troops remain dug in around a buffer zone, which was a flashpoint in the conflict.

"The process of Nato enlargement will continue, with due caution but also with a clear purpose: to help create a stable, undivided Europe.

An irreversible track

"No other country will have a veto over that," De Hoop Scheffer said in a clear reference to Russia. "Nor will we allow our strong ties with Georgia to be broken by outside military intervention or pressure."

At a joint press conference with De Hoop Scheffer, President Mikheil Saakashvili hailed the success of the visit, in which the two sides inaugurated a new Georgia-Nato co-operation commission.

"Now more than ever, Georgia's Euro-Atlantic course is on an irreversible track, a track that does not create new dividing lines and does not present any threat to world parties," Saakashvili told reporters.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin "is seeking full control of the energy resources of the Caspian Sea and central Asia", he told parliament after the news conference. "Russian imperialism will be defeated in Georgia," he added.

His address to parliament was expected to give details on reforms he intends to introduce to bring Georgia closer to Nato standards.

De Hoop Scheffer stressed earlier that Georgia still had to improve both the standard of its elections and media freedom to satisfy Nato's non-military criteria.

Saakashvili also voiced concern about the collapse of the pro-Western governing coalition in Ukraine, a key ally that is also dealing with the legacy of Soviet rule and trying to join Nato.

Outside interference

"We are very worried. I've been in contact with President (Viktor) Yushchenko," Saakashvili told AFP, referring to the Ukrainian leader.

The "things that are happening there, there are also signs of lots of outside interference and meddling," he said, apparently referring to Russia.

Nato committed itself to eventual membership for Georgia and Ukraine at a summit in April, drawing condemnation from Cold War-era foe Moscow.

But some Western politicians have expressed concern about admitting Georgia after last month's war, which left Russian troops stationed in two separatist territories, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and in surrounding buffer zones.

Russia had urged the Nato chief to call off his visit because of last month's war, which Moscow insists it fought to defend the Ossetian minority, many of them recipients of Russian citizenship, from "genocide".

Russia is fiercely opposed to Nato membership for both Georgia and Ukraine, seeing the two as part of its sphere of influence.

With Nato members still uncertain on Georgia's entry, few observers expect approval at a Nato meeting in December of a "membership action plan" that would signal formal candidacy.

In Paris, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who currently occupies the presidency of the European Union, said Russia had so far kept its promises on the retreat of troops from Georgia, an Elysee spokesperson said.

After a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, the two leaders welcomed the EU's decision to approve the deployment of a 200-strong observer mission for Georgia.

The United Nations is to send a multi-agency team on a humanitarian assessment mission to the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia later this week.

The mission, which will be led by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, will visit South Ossetia and other areas affected by the recent conflict between Georgia and Russia from Wednesday to Saturday, said a statement released by UN spokesperson Michele Montas.

Russia meanwhile announced it had opened a special account to help restore South Ossetia's economy after the conflict, with an initial credit of 12.8 million rubles.

The EU on Monday announced €500m of aid to help the country rebuild over the 2008-2010 period.

- AFP