BRUSSELS. Mach 12 (Interfax-AVN) - An invitation for Georgia to join NATO would automatically legalize Abkhazia and South Ossetia's secession, Russia's envoy to NATO Dmitry Rogozin said.
"The extension to Georgia of the membership action plan means that Brussels recognizes the borders within which the referendum on membership in NATO was held, without Abkhazia and South Ossetia, where such a referendum was not held," Rogozin told Interfax on Tuesday.
Russia's position on the notion of the territorial integrity of a state is well known, he said. "Russia has always supported the territorial integrity of neighboring states," and it has made relevant statements at the highest level on several occasions, he added.
"But in the current setting in Georgia, President [Mikheil] Saakashvili, disregarding the inner territorial disputes, is pressing ahead with Georgia's accession to NATO," he said.
Some NATO countries support this, Rogozin said. "Saakashvili's patrons have been busy in Brussels securing support for this decision among those who are undecided, and to ensure that the Georgian leadership is offered a membership action plan at the Bucharest summit in April, marking the beginning of this North Caucasus republic's integration in the Alliance," he said.
While organizing a referendum on Georgia's membership in NATO, Saakashvili "did not give himself the trouble of letting Abkhazia and South Ossetia have their say on the issue." Meanwhile, in talks with Washington, the Georgian president keeps citing the outcome of this so-called referendum, he added.
An analysis of the situation in Georgia, given the country's plans to join NATO as soon as possible, evokes "the feeling that Tbilisi will walk the whole way to NATO at the cost of a breakup of its state system, Rogozin said. The blame for such a future will rest squarely on the Georgian leadership. "Regarding Russia, we cannot follow this situation quietly, because one more drama could unfold near our borders," Rogozin said.