Monday, June 12 2017 13:11

ArmInfo.Georgia is a partner of NATO. Head of the NATO Office in Georgia William Lahue expressed such an opinion during the "NATO as a stabilizing force in the South Caucasus: today's challenges and progress in the region" seminar. 

Lahue noted that modification of a package documents are ongoing for  final preparation of Georgia to join the Alliance. "Of course, there  is still a lot of work. NATO member countries closely follow the  processes in Georgia, weigh the pros and cons, conduct a thorough  political and technical analysis of the impact of this decision in  general on the region", said the diplomat.  

At the same time, Lahue noted that Georgia's accession to NATO does  not mean the enlargement of presence of the military alliance in the  region. "That is the change in the status of Georgia. Gerogia may  join NATO tomorrow but nothing will change in its military component.  But the 5th paragraph of the statute of the Alliance for the  protection of its member will already be distributed on it, which  will make the Northern neighbor (Russia) to think twice to use new  military aggression like it was in 2008", Lahue said.  "After  Georgia's accession to NATO, this threat will be neutralized, and the  country will be free in its political actions and decisions. All NATO  member countries are protected from Russian aggression", he said.

At the same time, answering to question if the Gerogia's accession to  NATO will make Russia to enlarge its base in Armenia, Lahue said,  that such a scenario is not excluded, however, the Armenian society  would have to ask its authorities how expedient it is.