Georgia, and its government, awaits answers from the Bucharest summit
By M. Alkhazashvili
Monday, February 4
The decisions at NATO’s Bucharest summit in April mean much for Georgia’s national security, and even more for the political security of the ruling party.
President Mikheil Saakashvili campaigned for reelection partly on his successes in moving Georgia closer to NATO membership. While never promising to secure a Membership Action Plan in April, before the political crisis of November the country’s leadership pushed full-bore for Washington and European support at the summit.
Nearly all of the opposition leaders, along with nearly 80 percent of voters, support NATO integration. Opposition supporters, however, say the Saakashvili administration’s apparent backsteps in respect for democracy and rule of law are delaying Georgian entry into the Alliance.
But it is Russian opposition to Georgia’s membership bid which is the real impediment. Georgia’s leadership may not have publicly put high stakes on getting the MAP in April, but if they come home empty-handed it will reinforce here both perceptions of Moscow’s power and the administration’s culpability in internationally unsavory authoritarianism.
That, combined with Georgia’s real successes in fulfilling the military and organizational demands NATO has set down, is why Tbilisi could get some sort of official nod from the Alliance even if it falls short of a MAP.
There is no date yet set for the spring parliamentary elections, but they are almost certain to come after the early April NATO summit. Campaigning in Georgia will be affected by announcements in Bucharest, with the ruling party getting a hefty boost from a success but having one less leg to stand on if Georgia gets nothing.
President Mikheil Saakashvili campaigned for reelection partly on his successes in moving Georgia closer to NATO membership. While never promising to secure a Membership Action Plan in April, before the political crisis of November the country’s leadership pushed full-bore for Washington and European support at the summit.
Nearly all of the opposition leaders, along with nearly 80 percent of voters, support NATO integration. Opposition supporters, however, say the Saakashvili administration’s apparent backsteps in respect for democracy and rule of law are delaying Georgian entry into the Alliance.
But it is Russian opposition to Georgia’s membership bid which is the real impediment. Georgia’s leadership may not have publicly put high stakes on getting the MAP in April, but if they come home empty-handed it will reinforce here both perceptions of Moscow’s power and the administration’s culpability in internationally unsavory authoritarianism.
That, combined with Georgia’s real successes in fulfilling the military and organizational demands NATO has set down, is why Tbilisi could get some sort of official nod from the Alliance even if it falls short of a MAP.
There is no date yet set for the spring parliamentary elections, but they are almost certain to come after the early April NATO summit. Campaigning in Georgia will be affected by announcements in Bucharest, with the ruling party getting a hefty boost from a success but having one less leg to stand on if Georgia gets nothing.