Francois Fillon: Georgia, Ukraine do not have vocation to join EU and NATO

Francois Fillon, ex-Prime Minister of France and presidential candidate from the Republican Party, made a statement with regard to Ukraine and Georgia’s prospects for joining the EU and NATO in his interview to the Le Monde newspaper on January 22. The statement caused wide media outcry in Russia, Ukraine and Georgia. Public opinion surveys show that Fillon stands pretty good chances to win France’s presidential elections that are scheduled for April this year.  

JAMnews provides full quote from FrancoisFillon’s interview with regard to this issue:  

“Question: Can we trust Putin?

Francois Fillon: And can the West be always trusted? Hasn’t the West ever betrayed Russia in Libya, Kosovo, in the EU economic partnership? Russia has a lot of responsibilities, but it’s not the only one. Let me remind you of the irresponsible sayings or words of those, who would like to see Georgia and Ukraine in NATO.

Question: Do you think these countries should enjoy limited sovereignty under the ‘Brezhnev doctrine’?

Francois Fillon: No, we just need to accept that Ukraine and Georgia do not have vocation to enter EU and NATO. The USA doesn’t need aggressive states at its borders [either]…  I think we’ve made a lot of mistakes and what I can see is that Russia is drifting away. Can we bring Russia back to more reasonable positions? I don’t know. But we should surely try to do it.”

According to the Russian media interpretation, Francois Fillon said that Georgia and Ukraine ‘are not meant’ to be the members of the EU and NATO.