TBILISI. Sept 29 (Interfax-AVN) - Nino Burjanadze, a former Georgian parliamentary speaker and currently the president of the Georgia Democratic Development Foundation, believes the August events have thrown Georgia several years back in its development and that the Georgian authorities should act properly now to overcome the political crisis.
"The sooner the authorities give an answer to society to the key question as to whether there was a chance to avoid a war with Russia or not, the sooner the situation in Georgia will stabilize," Burjanadze said in an interview published in the Georgian newspaper Sakartvelos Respublika.
If it turns out that "it was possible to avoid military actions and the authorities lacked wisdom to do so, this could not be called just a mistake," Burjanadze said. "This is a crime to the country, which should be dealt with correspondingly," she said.
"The situation today is very difficult, although it is not hopeless if we act wisely and do not try to persuade ourselves that everything is okay and that we have won," Burjanadze said.
"The August events have thrown Georgia several years back," she said.
Commenting on the likelihood of Georgia's accession to NATO, Burjanadze said, "Judging by the modern-day realities, the likelihood of Georgia's accession to NATO is very little."
"While the entire world has seen how important it is for Georgia to join NATO, this will be out of the question until democratic reforms are implemented in the country," Burjanadze said.