"It's hard to watch Georgia move away from Ukraine in the context of NATO" - Former Georgian Ambassador to the European Union

Natalia Sabanadze about NATO

Natalia Sabanadze, former Georgian ambassador to the European Union and adviser to ex-Georgian Prime Minister Giorgi Gakharia on international issues, in an interview with the Palitranius program (Georgian Palitra TV channel) says that in the context of NATO, “it is hard to watch how Georgia is moving away from Ukraine” . By her own explanation, Georgia has now moved into the other camp.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili was not invited to the NATO summit in Vilnius because, by naming NATO as one of the main reasons for the war in Ukraine, the Georgian prime minister became, as the alliance explained to him, an “undesired guest.”

The fact that Georgia is not represented at the NATO summit in Vilnius is described by the German publication as a “symptom” of relations between Georgia and NATO.

According to the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Garibashvili became an “undesired guest” after he called NATO and its expansion “one of the main reasons” for the outbreak of war in Ukraine in his speech at the Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC) in Bratislava.

According to the publication, this was a clear repetition of the Russian version of the war in Ukraine.

“Our problem today is that we have lost too many friends. Today we have a different attitude towards the people who used to fight for us. Today we also gave a strange signal by sending the foreign minister [to Vilnius] and not attending [at the NATO summit] at a higher level.

Today, Georgia is actually not on the side of Ukraine. And although she speaks of moral support for Ukraine, she does not actually provide the support that is expected of her, and does not show that she is united with other partners. This is the diplomatic background, which probably made me leave Georgia.

We must not allow this. You can blame it on someone else, but I don’t think that would be right. It is especially difficult to watch how Georgia moves away from Ukraine in the context of NATO. We find ourselves next to Bosnia and Moldova, so to speak, we moved to another camp,” Sabanadze said.

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On July 11th, NATO released a communiqué summarizing the outcomes of the first day of the Vilnius Summit, in which it was noted that the alliance “reaffirms the decision made at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 that Georgia will become a member of the alliance – the Membership Action Plan (MAP) is an integral part of the process.”

The communiqué also states:

● To advance Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations, it must achieve progress in reforms, including key democratic reforms, and make maximum use of the Annual National Program.

● NATO firmly supports Georgia’s right to determine its own future and course of foreign policy without outside interference.

● NATO supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia within internationally recognized borders.

● NATO calls on the Russian Federation to withdraw its troops, which it has stationed in Georgia without its consent.

● The alliance also calls on Russia to revoke its recognition of the regions of Georgia – Abkhazia and South Ossetia, cease the militarization of these regions, and halt attempts to establish borders and forcibly separate them from Georgia.