ARMENIA TO JOIN NATO DRILLS IN GEORGIA
Asbarez
ticle=41710_4/21/2009_1
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
YEREVAN (Combined Sources)–Armenia will participate in NATO military
exercises in Georgia next month despite fierce opposition to the
drills echoed repeatedly by its main ally Russia, ArmRadio reported.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has warned that the planned
May 6 to June 1 exercises risk further undermining stability in the
troubled Caucasus region.
Russian President Dmitri Medvedev and the Secretary General of the
Collective Security Treaty Organization, Nikolay Bordyuzha, have
echoed Lavrov’s concerns. Both last week described the exercises as
a provocation "targeted at aggravating the situation in the South
Caucasus.
Moscow has pointed to tensions with Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
two Georgian breakaway regions, as well as ongoing protests against
Georgia’s president, as reasons to delay the exercises.
But the US-led alliance has dismissed concerns, saying there is
no connection with the drills and the situation in Georgia or the
region. NATO last week confirmed it will be moving forward with its
drills, which are expected to involve 1,300 troops from 19 countries
and will take place just outside Tbilisi, Georgia’s capital. The war
games will include Albania, Armenia, Croatia, Georgia, Macedonia and
the United Arab Emirates and are aimed at "improving interoperability
between NATO and partner countries."
Moscow on Tuesday, meanwhile, pulled out of a meeting of NATO military
commanders set for next month but said it would stick to plans to
resume formal political ties, Reuters reported.
Russia’s envoy to NATO warned a day earlier that it would pull-out
of the U.S.-led alliance if it pressed ahead with planned exercises
in Georgia.
Russia has stationed its forces just 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the
Georgian capital. And in recent weeks, it has sent even more troops
and armored vehicles to within striking distance of the city ahead
of street protests against Georgia’s president.
The ongoing protests, which began April 9, drew about 10,000 people
Tuesday and opposition leaders said they would continue daily until
President Mikhail Saakashvili resigned.
The demonstrations have been fueled by public anger over Georgia’s
humiliating defeat in the August war with Russia, which Saakasvhili
launched in an attempt to regain control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.