The Wall Street Journal: “West reluctant to let Georgia into the club”

Georgia’s unwavering desire to develop closer bonds with NATO and the EU is unwavering is under the spotlight this week at the NATO Summit in Wales but instead of being offered full NATO membership, the Alliance plans to support Georgia with a substantial package.

Six years ago NATO pledged Georgia would become a full member of NATO but in the current environment, some member states are hesitant about offering Georgia membership.

Wall Street Journal writer Naftali Bendavid explores the future of the "small but strategic nation” and outlines possible directions of Georgia’s NATO and EU integration.

Now that Russia is menacing Ukraine, some wonder whether the West’s relatively subdued response to Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia helped embolden President [Valdimir] Putin to seize Crimea,” says Bendavid.

"Western diplomats see Mr. Putin’s actions in Georgia and Ukraine as part of a larger pattern in which Russia occupies or threatens part of a country’s territory, seeking to obtain leverage and create a Russian sphere of influence.”

Read the full story here: www.online.wsj.com