NATO Chief: No Decision on Georgia’s MAP

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on March 6 “no decisions have been taken” on inviting Georgia and Ukraine to join the NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP).

However, he stressed discussions on the matter would continue until the Bucharest Summit scheduled to take place on April 2-4 and reiterated that NATO’s doors remained open.

Speaking at a press conference after a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Brussels, Scheffer said: “No decisions have been taken. A discussion was held. You know the principles; NATO’s door is open and who finally passes through that door is decided by the NATO allies and only by them and not by any other nation. The allies have clearly recognized the aspirations of Ukraine and Georgia given the fact that both countries are in the Intensified Dialogue and it was clearly restated this morning.”

Davit Bakradze, the Georgian foreign minister, said that the discussion of Georgia’s bid to join MAP by the NATO foreign ministers was in itself a success.

“We were not expecting any decision from this [NATO foreign ministerial council]. We have reached our goal, as the issue [of Georgia’s aspiration to join MAP] was discussed and supporters [of inviting Georgia into MAP] have raised this issue and skeptics [within NATO] have also expressed their opinions; now discussions will continue and we still have time before the Bucharest summit,” Bakradze told the Georgian Public Broadcaster on March 6.

He, along with Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze, is currently in Brussels. Both of them met the NATO secretary general on March 5.

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