We should not be envious due to the fact that Ukraine can be accepted into NATO without MAP – Ukraine is at war and, naturally, they pay more attention to them, – Chairman of Georgian Dream, Irakli Kobakhidze, said, adding that despite the situation in Ukraine, the public should not forget that in 2008, when there was a war in Georgia, NATO did not even grant the country MAP.
He noted that when war is the basis for differentiating the admission of countries to NATO, Georgia cannot do anything to get involved.
“In order to get closer to NATO, we will do everything. Much will, of course, depend on global processes. We should not be envious of the fact that Ukraine can be accepted into NATO without MAP. Ukraine is at war and naturally they pay more attention to them. However, one thing should be remembered, in 2008, when we had a war, we were not even given MAP. When the basis of differentiation is a state of war, there is nothing we can do. There are some people who wanted Georgia to be involved in the war, but we did not allow it. However, what I said does not allow you to draw the conclusion that we will get NATO membership status only if we join the war,” said Kobakhidze.
Kobakhidze claims the reason Georgia is not accepted into NATO is political, because it is ahead of Ukraine, as well as other countries wishing to join NATO, from the point of view of reforms.
“Two or three days ago, Biden also said that Ukraine needs reforms to join NATO. In this regard, we are much ahead of Ukraine and many other countries that want to join NATO. The reason why we are not accepted is, of course, political. It was like that in 2008 and it is like that today. Our responsibility is only to make progress in all directions,” said Kobakhidze.
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