NATO Envoy Hails Georgia’s Consistency, Speaks of Conflicts
The NATO Secretary General?s special representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia countries Robert Simmons, who visited Georgia on October 25-26, said that the team within the Georgian authorities is ?pretty consistent,? which will help to dynamically implement commitments under the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO. He also said that he does not see a ?direct connection? between joining the alliance and necessity ?to come to a final solution? for secessionist conflicts in Georgia.
?I think over the past year, and that is shown by progress that they [the Georgian authorities] have made in some of the aspects, there has been a more consistent team,? Robert Simmons said at a news conference in Tbilisi on Wednesday.
?One of the things that has happened since my last visit here [in April, 2005] is that they have set up a good inter-agency commission under the State Minister for Integration [into Euro-Atlantic Structures] to carry out the IPAP development and we have already seen some of the benefits of that commission, because there has been better inter-agency coordination? So under the leadership of the President [Saakashvili] individuals have changed and there has been a good consistent approach to this,? Simmons said.
He reiterated that NATO supports Georgia?s territorial integrity and said that the alliance discusses ?with Russians our support for Georgia?s territorial integrity.?
?We also believe that these disputes should be solved by peaceful means and in this context we very much welcome proposals that the President put forth at the Council of Europe this year… I was informed by the Foreign Minister about these developments [in respect of South Ossetia and Abkhazia],? he said.
When asked whether the unsolved conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia pose an obstacle for Georgia?s NATO aspiration, Simmons said, that he does not think ?there is a direct connection between them.?
?There is and there has been, for instance for all the countries that have joined the alliance, the importance of moving forward in developing good relations with all neighbors. But I do not think there has to be specific settlements in order to join the alliance. There is a more general reference in the IPAP to come up with plans, which the government really has with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, to deal with these issues, but not necessarily coming to a final solution,? Robert Simmons stated.
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