Latvian FM vows support for Georgia's NATO membership

Edgars Rinkevics, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Latvia, on Sunday said his country supported granting Georgia a Membership Action Plan for joining NATO.

Rinkevics said it was “important” to reflect NATO’s open door policy in the new concept of the alliance, pointing out the accession of Finland and Sweden would be “crucial” for Georgia.

“Admitting new members to the European Union and NATO requires consensus. Today there’s no agreement between the 30 member states of NATO on Georgia’s and Ukraine’s membership”, the official admitted.

“We continue to support Georgia, and we say that it is very important to focus on open door policy in the new NATO concept. It is important to continue working in this direction”, the top Latvian diplomat said in an interview with Georgian channel Imedi TV.

Anders Fogh Rasmussen, the former Secretary General of the alliance, on Wednesday said the West had made its “first mistake” back in 2008, at its Bucharest Summit, in not outlining a “clear path” to NATO for Georgia and Ukraine.

Rasmussen acknowledged NATO members could not agree on granting Georgia and Ukraine the MAP at the Summit, with the split sending a “wrong message” to Russia, which invaded Georgia a few months later, in August of the same year.