Clinton urges NATO allies to keep door open for Georgia, Ukraine

During her first official visit to Europe last week, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton mentioned “a fresh start” with Russia but also pushed for holding NATO’s door open to “European countries such as Georgia and Ukraine.”


Attending the NATO foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on March 5, she said the alliance must “find ways to manage the differences with Russia where they persist” and “stand up for our principles when our security or interests are at stake.”


At the same time she underlined that NATO must never recognize the breakaway Georgian territories of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, or “accept Russia’s assertions of spheres of influence over unwilling nations.”


Following NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer’s recommendation to resume high-level meetings of the NATO-Russia Council, foreign ministers of the 26 member countries engaged in a tense discussion over the issue ending up in a decision in Russia’s favor.


NATO suspended official cooperation with Russia last year in protest over Russia’s August incursion into Georgia. Now the alliance thinks the cooperation must be restored after the NATO anniversary summit, scheduled in April.


Analysts note that rapprochement with Russia is imminent with the new US administration desperately seeking broader collaboration with Moscow on Iran, Afghanistan and mutual security issues.


“I don’t think you (alliance) punish Russia by stopping conversations with them about matters, whether it be the misuse of energy supplies or the failure to comply with the requirements set forth by the OSCE and others concerning their actions in Georgia,” Clinton said.


Yet, not all the attendees were enthusiastic to see a thaw between Brussels and Moscow. Vygaudas Usackas of Lithuania, an ex-Soviet state which along with other Baltic countries is a staunch supporter of Georgia’s NATO bid, described the attempts to restart a dialogue with Russia as “premature.”


Britain’s position sounded more reserved and diplomatic as PM David Miliband said: “We distinctly and very severely declared that we support Georgia’s territorial integrity. We don’t want to isolate Russia, but Russia may isolate itself because of it’s recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.”


The alliance went back to Georgia again at the extraordinary NATO-Georgia Commission session, which was held at the request of Tbilisi. The session focused on Georgia’s Annual National Programme, as well as the ongoing reform process, continuation of dialogue on the regional security situation, and ways to further enhance NATO-Georgia ties.


Before heading for Brussels, in response to reporters’ questions as to why Georgia asked for the extraordinary session, Grigol Vashadze, the Georgian foreign minister, only said it was “simple” to guess, apparently referring to recent warnings in Tbilisi of Russia’s possible military intervention.


According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, Vashadze met with Hillary Clinton after the NATO-Georgia Commission meeting. The ministry said on its web page that “one of the main reasons for reaching the agreement among the allies on resuming formal relations with Russia through the NATO-Russia Council is to hold discussions on the issues of fundamental disagreement on Georgia.”


Set up after the August war, the NATO-Georgia Commission (NGC) is the institution where the alliance and Georgian sides are permanently gathered to discuss the security situation in the Euro-Atlantic region, the ongoing process of reforms in Georgia as well as NATO’s role in those reforms, and the further development of the NATO-Georgia partnership.


The last meeting of NGC was organized on February 20 in Krakow, which discussed ways to keep alive the membership hopes of Ukraine and Georgia, and Georgia’s defense priorities for 2009, including a review of national security strategy.


In contrast with Tbilisi official’s optimism of the March 5 meetings at the NATO headquarters, European commentators seemed far skeptical.


“Since Georgia’s de facto dismemberment at the hands of Russia last August, and since Ukraine’s descent into almost complete political paralysis and economic meltdown, NATO membership for both countries has, to put it mildly, not been one of the alliance’s top priorities,” Tony Barber, the Financial Times’ Brussels bureau chief, wrote on his blog. “Therefore, what Clinton has just said is a mere formula, not any kind of new initiative. It certainly tells us nothing about where the Obama administration will put the emphasis in its foreign policy.”