Omnivorous West soft-soaps Tbilisi: Why does NATO need Georgia?

The Russia-West confrontation continues. After the Soviet Union broke up into fifteen independent states, the West has actually disregarded the Russian Federation. Much can be said about Boris Yeltsin’s epoch and the freewheeling 1990s – an epithet that is applied to that period quite fairly - as the country was being dismantled slowly but surely. It was obvious that the country would collapse. The only question was when it will happen. The West worked for that result from outside and - if things are called with their proper names - a large group of generously fed and supported agents of influence worked on it from inside.  The country would collapse inevitably but for the massive patriotic uplift and the self-preservation instinct of the country.

Fortunately, patriotic forces found an outspoken and bright leader. The West’s furious criticism of Putin shows that this man has well spoiled their plans to reorganize the world. Therefore, they tried to surround Russia with a series of “color revolutions” that would end in a “color revolution” inside Russia. Then, puppets that would be brought to power would collapse the country gradually and transfer its overwhelming wealth to the fair and democratic West - the former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright claimed that Russia owns that wealth unfairly. Afterwards, democracy and freedom would “blossom” in the two or three dozens of small states in the endless territory of Russia.

What Putin did was next to impossible. He saved the country from demise and made it rise again. In his Munich speech in 2007, Putin clearly explained to the West that equality of rights and fair competition with Russia would be more favorable for the West rather than the attempts to weaken and destroy his country. Then happened the August 2008 War, the bloody coup in Ukraine. Then people were burnt alive in Odessa, amid blood and destructions in Donbass, and an attempt to dismantle the statehood in Syria.

The West declared its exclusive right to the world domination through the U.S. leader. Now, it is upon him to decide what countries can exist in the world. Furthermore, Washington’s henchmen will be governing these countries and fulfilling the West’s decisions inviolately.

The only obstacle to the West’s global domination is Russia. Even the most rampant hawks in U.S. and EU are well aware that a large-scale war against Russia is a suicide attempt. They have nothing to do but impose economic sanctions on Russia, dump oil price to undermine Russia’s economy, while involving Russia into local armed conflicts in Donbass and Syria. They need more conflicts. To that end, they are sending more diplomats and security services to Central Asia and South Caucasus.

The issue of Georgia’s aligning with NATO has been swirling around since the first days of that country’s independence. The West always gives the best promises and fails to implement them for decades. Many in Georgia even began to compare these promises with the Last Chinese Warning. However, Georgia has announced that NATO will be training its troops.  

NATO is openly gaining a foothold in the Baltic States. There are obvious attempts to create problems for Russia in the South Caucasus too. The unfriendly actions along Russia’s borders continue. At the NATO Defense Ministers Meeting in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Russia should recall recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. It is interesting to know what Stoltenberg was thinking about while making such a ceremonial statement. Did he expect that Moscow will abolish its decision as soon as it learns about his desire? NATO is going to train an entire squadron in Georgia, which will change the power balance in the region – all the dictators and bad boys are shivering and trembling! We have been through this. Yet not so long ago, then-president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili foamed at the mouth making inflammatory statements at military parades, demonstrating the West-trained army and promising to reach Moscow within a couple of days, taking up the corroded Russian tanks.

However, the self-proclaimed republics took this news very seriously. Secretary of the National Security Council of Abkhazia Muhammed Kilba said Georgia joining NATO poses a direct threat to the national security of Abkhazia. He was speaking about security of the people not just the sovereignty of Abkhazia. Both Sukhumi and Tskhinvali believe that Russia’s involvement into the armed conflict in August 2008 saved lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians.

Joining NATO, Georgia will get a hope to use the Alliance’s military capacity to crush the disobedient republics. “The given fact is a direct threat to our national security. The Russian Federation recognized independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia to save hundreds of thousands of lives. Its decision cannot be revised either today or tomorrow. We have no reasons to think that the Russian Federation will revise its decision that is based on the will of the citizens of both Abkhazia and South Ossetia,” Kilba said.

He said that the Agreement of Alliance and Strategic Partnership between the Russian Federation and the Republic of Abkhazia became an additional protection and stability guarantee for Abkhazia.

He recalled that the former Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen also promised that Georgia would become a NATO member. “Meantime, practice shows that high-ranking representatives of NATO often travel to Tbilisi and promise Georgia a full membership of the ‘big family,’ but such talks aim only one thing – to keep Georgia believe in that cherished dream,” Kilba said.

Georgian has been waiting for NATO membership for already three decades and more and more citizens of Georgia show skepticism about that. Many think that alliance with the NATO will have more cons than pros. Yet, these sentiments are observed in public. The political elite thinks differently.

However, everything changes with time…

So far, it would be good to understand if Georgia’s accession to NATO necessary to that organization or it is a method to annoy Russia once again.

Irakli Chkheidze, political analyst (Tbilisi, Georgia) for EADaily