Georgia seeks clarification of NATO offer

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation has a "pretty restrained approach” to enlarging its alliance, said Georgian authorities after NATO offered "a substantive package” to the country but made no mention of potential NATO membership.

Georgia’s State Minister for Euro-Atlantic Integration Alexi Petriashvili said negotiations were still ongoing between Georgia and NATO so final conclusions as to Georgia’s next steps could not be made yet.

"But it seems NATO has a pretty restrained approach in terms of its enlargement,” he added.

"We should get the maximum from this restrained attitude and work is continuing in this direction.”

However Petriashvili said he would not be satisfied if the only offer presented by NATO was to strength the NATO Liaison Office in Georgia.

"Indeed, this is not what the Georgian Government wants,” he said.

Petriashvili noted Georgia was ready for negotiations about becoming a NATO member if the Alliance was ready too.

"Today, it is obvious that some NATO members are not ready for this,” he said.

Meanwhile Georgia’s Foreign Minister Maia Panjikidze said the offered "substantive package” was something that would bring the country closer to NATO.

Moment before NATO Foreign Affairs Ministers met in Brussels today, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the organisation agreed in principle to offer a substantive package to Georgia to help it come closer to NATO.

He did not clarify the nature of the package, nor did he mention the possibility of Georgia being offered a Membership Action Plan (MAP), an arrangement seen as a prelude to full membership.

"This is a Summit decision but we have agreed in principle that we will develop a substantive package for Georgia that will help it come closer to NATO. We will work out the elements in the coming weeks,” he said.