TBILISI. May 12 (Interfax-AVN) - Ongoing stationing of Russian military bases on the Georgian territory will not be an obstacle in Georgia's rapprochement with NATO, President Eduard Shevardnadze told a news conference on Monday.
The problem of the bases' withdrawal is generally solved, and terms of withdrawal are the subject of negotiations, the president said. Russia agreed at the OSCE summit in Istanbul back in 1999 to withdraw bases from Georgia, and NATO "should take this into account," he stressed.
According to Shevardnadze, ongoing conflicts on the Georgian territory should not impede Georgia's admission to NATO either.
On the contrary, the admission should be "a moral and psychological catalyst of Georgia's unification," he said.
Shevardnadze noted that he was planning to discuss prospects of Georgia's rapprochement with NATO during his upcoming meeting with Secretary General of the Alliance George Robertson. The issue will be discussed in the context of the application submitted by Georgia at the NATO summit in Prague in November last year, he said.
Shevardnadze is also planning to discuss with Robertson the situation in Georgia and its armed forces to get the NATO leader's support.
Russia maintains its bases in Batumi, Georgia's autonomous republic of Adzharia, and Akhalkalaki, the Samtskhe-Dzhavakheti region.