MFA: “Third parties cannot influence Georgia’s NATO future”
Tweet 
Share
Georgia’s integration with NATO is "a priority of the country’s foreign policy” and third parties cannot have any influence on this process, says a Georgian Foreign Ministry representative.
Ministry spokesman David Kereselidze responded to the strong comments by Russia’s Foreign Minister, who said Russia would "take measures” if NATO tried to "lure” Georgia into the Alliance.
Today Kereselidze stressed Georgia’s integration with NATO could not be influenced by third parties and Georgia’s NATO future only depended on dialogue between the Alliance and Georgia.
"Georgia’s European and Euro-Atlantic integration is the priority of the country’s foreign policy and is based on the strong will and free choice of the Georgian population,” he said.
"Georgia’s NATO integration depends on the ongoing dialogue between the Alliance and Georgia and on the decisions of Alliance member states, therefore third parties cannot have any influence on this process,” he said.
Kereselidze said the history of the Alliance showed that accepting new members into NATO was one of the main factors for strengthening global peace and security.
"The Russian Federation is the one who threatens stability in South Caucasus by neglecting the commitments made in the 2008 Ceasefire Agreement and its constant attempts of militarisation and annexation of Georgia’s occupied territories,” Kereselidze noted.
"Georgia is trying to receive a commitment from Russia about non-use of force, to which Georgia committed twice at the Geneva Talks. By adopting agreements with Abkhazian and South Ossetian puppet regimes, Russia practically subordinates the military forces of occupied regimes,” he said.
Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov yesterday spoke at a press conference with the de facto foreign minister of Tskhinvali region’s (South Ossetia) separatist government and said they had discussed "the non-stop process to drag Georgia into NATO”.
The Russian diplomat believed any attempt to bring Georgia into NATO would not contribute to the stability in the South Caucasus and said Russia was ready to respond to any attempt to make Georgia a NATO member.
"Naturally, if these measures start to take practical shape – evidently, this process has already begun – we will take measures to prevent negative effects of these developments,” Lavrov said.
Russia will take "measures” if NATO tries to "lure” Georgia into the alliance, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov says.
The de facto Foreign Minister of Georgia’s breakaway Tskhinvali region (also known as South Ossetia) has arrived in Moscow to sign a so-called "Agreement on State Border” with Russia.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has agreed in principle to offer "a substantive package” to Georgia to help it come closer to NATO but made no mention of membership.
Russia is making moves to remove its border with Abkhazia – one of Georgia’s two breakaway regions.
A Kremlin proposed new treaty on ‘Alliance and Integration’ with Georgia’s breakaway region Abkhazia and Russia will be signed by the end of this year, Abkhazia’s de-facto leader Raul Khajimba announced.
A proposal to sign a closer cooperation treaty between Russia and Georgia’s breakaway Tskinvali region (South Ossetia) will soon be submitted to the Russian President for review.
Brussels is hosting a Georgia-NATO Commission meeting for Ambassadors today.
Official Tbilisi is expressing "extreme concern” after Russian military held joint training exercises in Georgia’s occupied Abkhazia and Tskhinvali (South Ossetia) regions.