Views from Tbilisi: Prospects for Georgia's NATO membership should be assessed by the conjunction "when" rather than "if"

The prospects for Georgia's NATO membership should be assessed by the conjunction "when" rather than "if", Vasil Sikharulidze, foreign ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Chairman of the Atlantic Council of Georgia, has told ArmInfo in an interview organized by the "Region" Research Center. 

He says that Georgia's NATO membership will be useful not only for Georgia, but also for the entire region. It will contribute to strengthening of security and stability in the region and will open up new opportunities for development. Among the key aspects that would make Georgia's integration into NATO successful, Sikharulidze points out strengthening of democratic institutions, independence of media and judiciary, promotion of reforms in the security sector, as well as active foreign policy and contribution to international security.       
He recalls that a decision on Georgia's accession to NATO was taken at the Bucharest Summit in 2008 and the decision was reaffirmed at each of the following summits. The expert supposes that NATO is currently determining its future strategy, including expansion. He says that the crisis in Europe, occupation of Georgian territories, war in Ukraine, financial crisis, refugees, slow economic growth and the violation of the Transatlantic unity caused by the war in Iraq hampered that process.           

Nevertheless, he thinks these problems are nothing as compared to what NATO faced 25 years ago due to the Soviet occupation of Eastern and Central Europe and direct military threats against NATO member states.