Georgia to become NATO member: Merkel (UPDATED)
Güncelleme Tarihi:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday in the Georgian capital that the ex-Soviet republic, currently mired in conflict with Russia, will join NATO.
"Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," she said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi.
It was one of the strongest statements yet of support for Georgia’s NATO membership bid, which is fiercely opposed by Russia.
Merkel was in Tbilisi to support Saakashvili and press for the withdrawal of Russian troops who attacked Georgia on August 8 to repulse an offensive by Georgian troops against a Moscow-backed separatist region.
Russian troops remained deployed in the north and west of the country, including units within half an hour’s drive of Tbilisi.
Russia says that regular forces will begin withdrawing Monday but that an unspecified number of Russian peacekeepers will remain.
Moscow is furious at Georgia’s attempt to join NATO. The Western military alliance is divided over how fast to accept Georgia, but has indicated that membership is a matter of when, not if.