Georgia says it won’t drag NATO into war / Won’t fight Russia again, official says

[jakeXT]

Georgia’s second-most-powerful man vows that his country will not drag NATO into a war with Russia if accepted into the Western alliance, saying that the chance of another confrontation with Moscow is far lower than it was before their 2008 conflict.

“We made a unilateral commitment to nonuse of force, so there is no way we will become a problem for NATO in terms of Article 5 or in terms of a possible military confrontation between Georgia and Russia,” David Bakradze, speaker of the Georgia Parliament, said in an interview with The Washington Times.

Article 5 of NATO’s founding treaty stipulates that an attack on one member state “shall be considered an attack against them all.”

“We still have threatening rhetoric on the side of Russian officials,” Mr. Bakradze said, “but I think in the current international situation, it’s not very likely that Russia will dare to use large-scale military force against Georgia, so if one asks me, I would say that the probability of another invasion or large-scale conflict is low, and it’s much lower than it was in 2008.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/nov/6/georgia-is-eager-to-join-nato/

[dipsydoodle]

1. Ducking and diving

because they want access to both NATO and the EU.

Saakashvili only got in with bent elections.

[jakeXT]

2. We do a little bending over here too... nt

[pampango]

3. Russia and Georgia are slated to sign an agreement allowing Russia into the WTO.

Maybe that will help improve relations between the two.

Russia to sign WTO accession deal with Georgia this week

http://en.ria.ru/world/20111107/168484353.html

Russia and Georgia will sign an agreement on Russia's accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) this week, Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Nino Kalandadze said on Monday. "The text of the agreement has been initialed and will be signed by November 10. The area of activity for monitoring companies will be specified by this time," she said.

Russia's chief WTO negotiator Maxim Medvedkov said last week Moscow and Tbilisi had reached a compromise deal with the help of Swiss mediators on monitoring goods crossing the borders of the former Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"The main issue was to define trade corridors and the format of monitoring cargo turnover on the border of Russia and Georgia. For the Georgian side it is important that uncontrolled cargo turnover in recent years should be placed in a legal framework not only formally but also in practice by international observers," Kalandadze said.

Russia has been working to join the WTO since 1993. The last remaining obstacle for its entry has been Georgia, which has refused to okay Russia's entry ever since the two countries fought a brief war in August 2008 when Georgia attacked South Ossetia to bring it back under Tbilisi's central control. After the war, Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another ex-Georgian republic, Abkhazia.

[bemildred]

4. So why does he want to join Nato? nt

[jakeXT]

5. Do they issue a nice membership card ? nt