U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice (right) with Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili in Washington, September 11, 2007
Photo: AP
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Georgia Hankers for NATO Admission
Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili has completed his weeklong trip to the United States to clear the way for Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's visit there next week. Saakashvili will address the UN General Assembly and is expected to bring up the August “missile incident.” He has criticized the UN and other international organizations for their lack of support in the face of what he assesses as an act of aggression.
Saakashvili hopes to garner U.S. support for his country's more faster acceptance into NATO during meetings with Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rise and Defense Secretary Robert Gates.
Bezhuashvili emphasized Georgia's successful market reforms and economic progress in his meetings with American specialists. The U.S. invested $1.5 billion in Georgia last year, making it the country's second largest investor. The Georgian economy has grown by 30 percent since Saakashvili took office, and the GDP per capita has tripled, in spite of a blockade by Russia.
Georgia is seeking to proceed to the next step of its NATO entry process, the so-called MAP plan. Georgian diplomatic sources say that Rice has promised her full support for that. Washington has not officially said anything new about Georgia's NATO bid or increasing its involvement in the settlement process in the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Washington did, however, praise Georgia for its role in the military operation in Iraq. Georgia has the third-largest military contingent in that country, following the U.S. and Great Britain, and Saakashvili has promised to enlarge the 2000-strong Georgian force there.
www.kommersant.com
All the Article in Russian as of Sep. 14, 2007
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