Ambiguity surrounding Georgia’s prospects for joining NATO plays into Russia’s hands, the authorities of this small country in the Caucasus said on Monday, a day before the summit of the North Atlantic Alliance, which will be held in Lithuania, AFP and Agerpres inform. .

Protest against rapprochement with Russia in front of the Georgian parliamentPhoto: AA/ABACA / Abaca Press / Profimedia

Recalling the previous summit held in Bucharest in 2008, during which NATO refused to formally commit to the integration of Georgia and Ukraine, Georgian parliament speaker Shalva Papuashvili said that this “controversial decision created an ambiguity that pushed Russia to take advantage of this . geopolitical opening and aggravation of the situation”.

According to Papuashvili, Georgia’s accession to NATO would avoid a war with Russia in 2008, a culmination of tensions related to Tbilisi’s desire to strengthen relations with NATO.

“Georgia’s refusal could also contribute to the Ukrainian disaster,” he added, referring to Russia’s war in Ukraine. “NATO’s borders show where the border of peace is,” said a Georgian official.

There is no closeness between Tbilisi and Moscow, claims a Georgian official

The speaker of the Georgian parliament, who made the statements on behalf of the ruling Georgian Dream party, added that he saw “no clear argument why Georgia was not accepted into NATO” and dismissed the concerns of some Westerners and the opposition who support that I see a rapprochement between Tbilisi and Moscow.

“Nothing is so far from the truth,” said Shalva Papuashvili, assuring that Georgia’s democratic and military reforms make it “one of the most compatible partner countries, as recognized even by NATO.”

According to polls, Georgia wants to join the European Union and NATO, as the majority of its population wants, but NGOs and opposition activists accuse the ruling party of encouraging an authoritarian drift. Georgia refused to impose sanctions against Russia.

Georgia, a former Soviet republic in the Caucasus, clashed with Russia in 2008 in a flash war that saw Moscow recognize the independence of two pro-Russian separatist territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke away from Georgia in 1992.

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