U.S. Senate Reaffirms Support to Georgia’s NATO Membership

The U.S. Senate reiterated its support to “the timely admission” of Georgia, Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, and Ukraine into NATO by passing “NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007” on March 15.

The Act, sponsored by Richard Lugar, a top Republican member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, authorizes security assistance for these countries in Fiscal Year 2008.

“Unfortunately, Georgia and Ukraine have not yet been granted a Membership Action Plan but nevertheless have made remarkable progress,” Senator Lugar said in remarks posted on his web-site on March 16.

“This legislation will provide important incentives and assistance to the countries to continue the implementation of democratic, defense, and economic reforms,” he added.

The House passed a similar version of the bill on March 6. A technical difference must be resolved between the two bills before it is signed into law by President Bush.

Leading Georgian political parties have signed a special memorandum on March 12 supporting Georgia’s NATO-membership; a declaration backing the memorandum was passed by the Georgian Parliament on March 13.

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