End the Russian Veto on Georgian Accession

At NATO’s 2008 Bucharest Summit, the allies refused to go along with a US push to offer Georgia a Membership Action Plan (MAP), but agreed that it would someday become a member of the Alliance.1 Germany and France intended for this equivocation to allay Russian objections, yet it was seized upon by Vladimir Putin as an opportunity to block Georgia’s path to the Alliance. In August 2008, a mere four months after the Bucharest Summit, Russia invaded Georgia and occupied twenty percent of its internationally recognized territory. With some creativity and bold political will, however, Georgia’s accession into NATO is still feasible, despite the Russian occupation.

Key Takeaways:

0:00 Intro

1:55 Luke talks about the Bucharest summit that happened in 2008 and reasons why Georgia was denied the Membership Action Plan in the Alliance

4:20 Alexis and Luke shares their thoughts on what caused Russia invade Georgia after Russia felt that NATO has abandoned Georgia

6:02 Alexis and Luke also share their thoughts that if Membership Action Plan would have been offered to Georgia, would have Russian invasion been blocked

8:14 Luke explains which events were taking place that Russia took advantage of and was able to invade Georgia

10:27 Luke talks about what it takes for a country to attain the Membership Action Plan and why Germany and France didn’t also want Georgia in the Alliance

12:54 Luke also talks about why he thinks it time to get new systems or mechanisms to get countries inside NATO apart from MAP

15:35 Alexis gives three reasons why she thinks Georgia should be in NATO and talks about what’s holding NATO up to letting Georgia become a member

17:41 Luke explains what NATO wants from Georgia to make it a member of the Alliance even after Georgia has done everything required

20:39 Luke explains why NATO allowed Montenegro and North Macedonia in but still left Georgia out even after all the efforts it has put

21:41 Luke talks about Article 6 in NATO, what it is and where Article 6 says Article 5 applies

25:13 Alexis and Luke also talk about how likely Russia is going to feel threatened if Georgia was to overcome the block and be able to get the MAP

28:56 Alexis explains why there is no appetite to invite Georgia in the Alliance like there was in the Balkans even though there are plenty of reasons to invite Georgia

29:47 Alexis speaks of what would happen if Georgia got tired of waiting for NATO to allow it to be a member

30:30 Luke talks about if the US has provided enough leadership on Georgia being offered the MAP to join NATO if all members agreed apart from Germany and France

32:17 Luke talks about what Georgia and NATO need to do together to come up with a solution to the problem so that Georgia can become a member and if Georgian officials know this

35:07 Luke shares his thoughts if with the Biden’s administration there would be a responsible, realistic and reasonable path for Georgia to join the Alliance

Shows Mentioned:

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/content-series/nato20-2020/end-the-russian-veto-on-georgian-accession/

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/

https://twitter.com/hashtag/strongerwithallies?lang=en

Quotes Mentioned:

“Membership Action Plan is the current mechanism that NATO uses to create a roadmap for entry into the Alliance.”

“What Russian policymakers do is they wait for that right opportunity to take advantage of a situation.”

“MAP is not a security guarantee; it’s merely a tool that's used to get a country inside of the Alliance.”

“Georgia remains a beacon of hope for the Eurasian region.”

“It only takes one in NATO.”

“No country should have a veto on a potential ally coming in.”

Guests Social Media Links:

Luke Coffey:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/luke-coffey-5566184/

https://www.heritage.org/staff/luke-coffey

https://twitter.com/LukeDCoffey

Alexis Mrachek:

https://www.linkedin.com/in/alexismrachek/

https://www.heritage.org/staff/alexis-mrachek

https://twitter.com/AlexisMrachek