According to the former Commander-in-Chief of the US Army in Europe, Ben Hodges, the Prime Minister of Georgia does not want the country to become a member of NATO. Hodges evaluated the statement of the Prime Minister of Georgia Irakli Garibashvili at the thematic discussion held within the framework of the Global Security Forum (GLOBSEC) with the Georgian editorial staff of Voice of America.
“For me, it is perceived that Georgia is no longer a NATO aspirant. The Prime Minister says that Russia attacked Ukraine because of NATO expansion. It seems to me that the Prime Minister of Georgia does not want Georgia to become a member of NATO, because he is afraid, and implies that in this case Russia will attack Georgia,” Hodges said.
In addition, according to Robert Hamilton, retired lieutenant colonel of the US Army, Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili repeated the main argument used by the Russian government to justify the war – NATO expansion – at the Global Security Forum.
As he noted, after such a statement, it is no longer relevant to claim that you do not want to repeat the emphasis of the Russian government.
“He began his answer by saying that the main reason for the war was the expansion of NATO. Once you say that, it doesn’t matter anymore if you say that you don’t want to repeat the Russian government’s emphasis, because you have already done it, you have already repeated the main argument used by the Russian government to justify the war – the expansion of NATO,” said Hamilton.
