German Foreign Minister Visits Georgia

With the current pace of reforms Georgia has a real chance of becoming a NATO member, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said after talks with his Georgian counterpart Gela Bezhuashvili in Tbilisi on February 19.

The German Foreign Minister is visiting Georgia as part of his trip to the South Caucasus states. Germany currently holds the rotating EU presidency.

During the meeting the two ministers discussed Georgia?s NATO integration, Georgia?s European Neighborhood Policy action plan, Georgian-Russian relations, as well as issues related with energy security.

Frank-Walter Steinmeier said that resolution of the conflicts in Georgia should not be a precondition for the country?s NATO-membership, although he added that the linkage between these two factors ?is a difficult issue.?

?I can not speak with the name of NATO, but the NATO Secretary General, as well as representatives of the member states, have confirmed many times that conflict resolution should not become a precondition for Georgia?s NATO membership,? Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said.

?It is clear for everyone that conflicts should be solved through a dialogue and based on mutual confidence; there is no other alternative,? the German Foreign Minister said.

He noted that Kosovo is a unique case that can not apply to conflicts in Georgia, and added that Germany is ready to push for conflict resolution issues in Georgia as part of a German-Russia dialogue.

Steinmeier went on to say that Georgia has ambitious plans regarding European Union membership as well, and noted that the EU has a regional approach in this regard to the South Caucasus.

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