08/20/2008

News / NATO Strengthens Ties with Georgia

NATO Strengthens Ties with Georgia

No “business as usual” without “concrete action” from Russia

By David I. McKeeby
Staff Writer

Washington -- NATO will strengthen its ties to Georgia through a newly created commission designed to support reconstruction and stabilization in the aftermath of the Russian-Georgian conflict that erupted over two Georgian breakaway regions.

The North Atlantic Council, meeting in emergency session August 19, said in a joint declaration that "we have determined that we cannot continue with business as usual" with Russia until its combat forces now in Georgia are withdrawn and it recognizes the territorial boundaries of Georgia.

The new NATO-Georgia Commission, similar to a body established in 1997 to oversee NATO relations with Ukraine, will help Georgia assess damages from the Russian incursion and restore essential services to communities in the conflict zone. And the commission will support Georgia as it pursues future NATO membership pledged at the 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest, Romania.

NATO will deploy 15 civil emergency planning experts to help Georgian officials conduct damage assessments of roads, utilities, public health facilities and other essential infrastructure and systems, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said at a post-meeting press conference. The alliance also will act as a clearinghouse for humanitarian aid for more than 150,000 people displaced by the conflict.

The alliance stopped short of a full freeze in diplomatic contacts with Russia, but expressed concern about NATO’s future relations with Moscow in the wake of the conflict.

"The future of our relations will depend on the concrete actions Russia will take to honor the words of [Russian] President [Dmitry] Medvedev to abide by the six-point peace plan, which is not happening at the moment,” Scheffer said. And Scheffer said NATO is not closing all doors in communicating with Russia.

As long as Russian forces continue to occupy Georgia, Scheffer said, the alliance is unlikely to convene its NATO-Russia Council, which was created in 2002 to strengthen relations with Russia.

“We are very disappointed because despite the promise to us, there is no withdrawal of troops,” French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said. “When you sign up to an agreement you have to respect it.”

British Foreign Minister David Miliband called for continued “hard-headed engagement” with Russia, while German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier urged redoubled diplomacy to transform the fragile cease-fire into a peace process. “Force cannot be the basis for the demarcation of new lines around Russia,” he said.

While NATO has no direct role in mediation efforts led by the European Union and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, with support from the United States, the trans-Atlantic allies will support Georgia as a partner and friend, said Scheffer.

“Georgia can become a member of the alliance and, in my opinion, one day will become a member of it. The Bucharest decision stands,” he said.

See also "Russia Will Not Be Allowed to Destabilize Europe, Rice Says."

Source: http://www.america.gov/st/peacesec-english/2008/August/20080819160731idybeekcm0.4339105.html?CP.rss=true

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