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How those discussions went remains confidential. NATO's assessment report on Georgia will become public information as soon as it passes through certain NATO procedures.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Gela Bezhuashvili, Minister of Defense Irakli Okruashvili, and Giorgi Baramidze, State Minister for European and Euro-Atlantic Integration represented the Georgian delegation in Brussels.
According to information from the press office of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, representatives of NATO member states welcomed successful fulfillment of IPAP tasks and pledged their support for Georgia's moving to a new stage of cooperation with NATO.
As Bezhuashvili said, "We acknowledged the positions of the Allies about ongoing processes in Georgia and gave answers to all questions, thus highlighting those challenges and problems that Georgia will have to overcome on its route to Euro-Atlantic integration."
NATO Parliamentary Assembly, headed by President Pierre Lellouche with number of senior leaders of the assembly, arrived in Tbilisi to discuss cooperation with Georgian officials to help to integrate to the Euro-Atlantic Community, including resolution of conflicts in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
NATO Parliamentary Assembly supports Georgia's integration to NATO and consolidation of democratic process in Georgia.
"The enormous progress has been made in this country since the Rose Revolution, but remains other things in various areas to consolidate: the election law, judicial system and freedom and access to the press needs consolidation," stated Lellouche at the meeting with press held in the parliament of Georgia.
The Georgian Parliament passed an appeal to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, expressing its aspirations for NATO membership. The resolution highlights the European direction of policy carried out by the Georgian government and its strong political desire to affiliate with NATO. It also includes an address to the MPs of NATO member states asking them to act as go-betweens with their governments to support Georgia's membership in NATO.
Acording to Nina Nakashidze, deputy chairwomen of the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs, "affiliation with NATO is very important for Georgia, not only for its internal conflicts, but for realization of democratic reforms now underway in the country which aim to transform Georgia into a European-type democratic state, and for meeting those standards and values that are characteristic of a democratic state."
The International Security Advisory Board (ISAB), which was invited by the Georgian government to provide support to reform and modernize the security sector, issued Report 2006 to review the progress achieved in the modernization of security sector since 1999. The report highlighted number of implemented recommendations in state security structure and modernize the defense sector.
The board proposed four criteria to measure security sector reforms, which were aligned with Euro-Atlantic standards and practices. Democratic standards, compatibility, legality were achieved satisfactory, however sustainability have some concerns for the board.
Based on the military reports that NATO Parliamentary assembly got here, they admitted enormous progress has been made and from the military point of view, there are not many problems to continue with the next stage in the direction of NATO membership. As about discussion on the time and pace of NATO membership it basically deals with two main issues: one is consolidation and deepening of democratic process, and members have some concerns toward this issue, and the second regards the resolution of internal conflicts, which settlement without NATO membership is uncertain.
Bert Koenders, a vice president of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly from Holland believes that, "Especially, issue of democratic consolidation will determine the next stage for Georgia's membership to NATO."
The British Ambassador to Georgia Donald McLaren thinks that it is impossible to put it into timescale. The membership to NATO comes naturally after more evidences of the reforms being implemented. There is whole number of steps, which Georgian government is taking to address internal conflicts in a peaceful way.
"But when it comes to a decision on membership, it would be judgment for the Alliance whether there is a risk of importing a conflict into the Alliance or whether we are (the Alliance) is sufficiently confident that the progress is underway," added Ambassador McLaren.
The UK funded Peacekeeping English Project (PEP) was launched at the National Defence Academy in Tbilisi. The PEP is an integral part of the implementation process of Georgia's commitments under the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO. "The PEP is one more step towards IPAP and NATO," Ambassador said at the Academy.
As Ambassador McLaren said there are a number of areas, where the Alliance want to see more progress, such as personnel policy, logistics and the training programme.
The British and the Dutch are now working together with the Georgian Ministry of Defense to try to improve planning and the budgetary process. "The Alliance wants to have more confidence that already serious positive steps being taken in this country (Georgia)," added McLaren.
Georgia was the first country in the South Caucasus, to sign an Individual Membership Action Plan in 2004. It was signed by Azerbaijan and Armenia in 2005. The program covers settlement of internal conflicts, combating terrorism, developing democracy, human rights and rule of law, fighting corruption, democratic control of the armed forces, economic development, and relations with Russia.
After IPAP completion, the next step for Georgia would be a Membership Action Plan (MAP), which comes after Intensive Dialogue. The final decision will be made at a meeting of ministers of foreign affairs of NATO member countries in Sofia in early summer on whether Georgia moves ahead in the process.
The Georgian government says it expects to join NATO by the end of 2008. After a visit by an IPAP assessment team on March 6-10, the government predicted their conclusions would be positive.
According to the chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Integration to Europe David Bakradze, "As far as we know, Georgia's progress will be positively evaluated. Practically all tasks were fulfilled. However, there were certain liabilities that cannot be considered as entirely fulfilled, such as enhancement of democratic institutions in the country. This process needs permanent work, although there was a meaningful degree of progress that is considered satisfactory."
Frank Boland, the head of the NATO assessment mission and chief of NATO's Department for Politics and Defense Planning, told the Institute of War and Peace Reporting: "It is important to acknowledge openly that its low economic level is constraining the possibilities of the government of Georgia to carry through many changes it would like to make. But we are genuinely struck by how much has been changed and how much the Georgian authorities plan to change in the future."
Georgia still has unresolved internal conflicts. The government says it is committed to cope with these problems through peaceful means. President Mikhail Saakashvili told the UN General Assembly meeting that Georgia would deal with the disputed regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia "only through peacefully means." The Georgian government has proposed a new peace roadmap for South Ossetia that offers partial autonomy.
Tornike Sharashelidze, director of the NATO Information Center in Tbilisi, which was established under IPAP to raise public awareness on NATO, said she believes that unsolved internal conflicts will not affect Georgia's membership in NATO because the country is trying to move toward peaceful resolution of the conflicts. He said it was realistic for Georgia to become a member in 2008.
David Zurabishvili, chairman of the opposition faction Democratic Font, said that membership in NATO does not mean only fulfillment of military goals. "Democratic developments in the country and an independent and unbiased court system also very important matters, and especially in these areas there are some gaps," he said.
Georgian authorities don't think internal conflicts will be a barrier to NATO membership.
The NATO Parliamentary Assemblies assured that democratic process in Georgia is a dominant factor in conflict resolution, the successful and prosperous democracy in Georgia will act as magnet in this areas and respect minorities and economic success will commit people to live together. However, the success of the democracy in Georgia is the responsibility of the Georgian government today and the Georgian people.
Pierre Lellouche noted, "NATO is not magic solution. The solution for the territorial integrity of Georgia comes from the strength of Georgian people and Georgian democracy."
David Zurabishvili, chairman of the opposition faction Democratic Front, referred to the Cyprus case, which has not been solved yet, but was not a hurdle for Turkey to join NATO. "NATO does not give carte blanche to Georgia on military operations, but if the country develops economically and democratically, this will help us in every aspect of conflict resolution," Zurabishvili said.
Georgian officials believe membership in NATO will guarantee a higher level of security, support sustainable and peaceful development for the country, and gain more trust from investors, thus assisting the economic development of the country. As Bakradze said, "Georgia will be a member of the strongest military and political alliance existing nowadays. It does not cover only military issues; this will bring positive outcomes in every area of development."
Bakradze said that Russia would try to hinder this process. "They will try to present us as a problematic state by provoking political disorders or conflicts within the country, which is unfavorable for the West," said Bakradze.
According to Zurabishvili, there are no external factors that could hinder Georgia's membership to NATO, and that the decision will depend entirely on Georgia's performance under IPAP.
NATO, within the parliament, is prepared to help Georgia to work out political agreement with Moscow as they consider Russia is the key elements in the solution and a key and answers for conflict resolution lay in Moscow.
How Russia, which is an associated member of NATO, is willing to reach political agreement with Georgia is uncertain. Russia's Foreign Ministry warned NATO that Russia might have to reorient its military capabilities and its military and industrial relationships if Georgia and Ukraine join NATO.
After the Brussels' meeting, the head of the Russian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, Konstantin Kosachev, condemned the council's policy regarding Georgia. In an interview with the Russian newspaper Izvestia held in Moscow, he noted that Russia was one of four states whose payments make up 70 percent of the CoE budget, while Georgia's share was significantly smaller. "I would agree with this situation, if Europeans stop talking how democracy blossoms in Georgia and end up criticizing Russia," he said.
Shalva Pichkhadze, head of the non-governmental organization Georgia for NATO, thinks that it is not clear yet if and how Georgia implemented IPAP tasks. He said the holding of local elections tentatively scheduled for this autumn would be a test for Georgia. "The undemocratic election code existing in the country can cause a problem for Georgia's membership in NATO," Pichkhadze said.
