ARMENIAN COMMENTER AGAINST GEORGIAN NATO ACCESSION

The Messenger
March 28 2008
Georgia

Georgia’s accession to NATO is undesirable for Armenia, says former
Armenian defense minister Vaan Shirkhanyan.

Speaking at a seminar on NATO expansion yesterday, Shirkhanyan
predicted Georgia will not receive a Membership Action Plan at next
week’s Bucharest summit.

If Georgia did join NATO, he said, regional stability would be
endangered.

"If Georgia enters the North Atlantic Alliance, two possible scenarios
of developments could be predicted. The worst for Armenia is if Georgia
starts restoring its territorial integrity…through military means,"
he said, according to the news agency News-Armenia.

"Military actions of Georgia may have repercussions in the frozen
Karabakh-Azerbaijani conflict. It will mean the resumption of the war,"
he said.

He suggested the second possible scenario would be Azerbaijan
joining NATO.

"Armenia would turn out to be at the point of collision of the two
largest military programs in the world-NATO and the Collective Security
Treaty Organization," Shirkhanyan said. (Black Sea Press)