NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer sought on April 2 to defuse a brewing crisis within the Atlantic alliance over the admission timetable for Georgia and Ukraine.
German, French and other European leaders attending the summit were reportedly annoyed by US President George W. Bush's continued advocacy on behalf of Georgian and Ukraine. In a speech made hours before the opening of the summit, Bush urged NATO to offer the two countries a membership action plan (MAP) during the Bucharest summit. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].
Speaking at a German Marshall Fund-organized Bucharest Conference on the sidelines of the NATO summit, de Hoop Scheffer sought to stake out a compromise position that would prevent the MAP flap from developing into an obstacle that hampered agreement on other issues such as boosting troop levels in Afghanistan.
"Let me be clear: NATO's enlargement dossier will not be closed after Bucharest," de Hoop Scheffer said. "Our message will be positive and unambiguous. Yes, both countries [Georgia and Ukraine] have their place in Euro-Atlantic integration. Our door is open."
At the same time, de Hoop Scheffer did not specify when Georgia and Ukraine should receive a MAP. In this way, he sought to satisfy both factions on the issue.
While NATO members such as Germany keep reiterating that non-members like Russia do not have veto power over alliance decisions, the potential impact of granting MAP to Georgia and Ukraine is already casting a long shadow over the summit. Russia is adamantly opposed to MAP offers for Georgia and Ukraine, and some observers believe that Western Europe's energy dependence on Moscow is influencing strategic thinking in Berlin and other European capitals.
Russian leader Vladimir Putin is expected to participate in summit discussions on April 4. De Hoop Scheffer expressed hope that NATO and Russia would be able to find common ground on at least some of the issues over which the two sides are currently divided. "I don't expect him to stay silent on those issues which we disagree, such as Kosovo, CFE [the Conventional Forces in Europe pact] or missile defense," the NATO secretary general said. He added that the Bucharest summit would aim to show "that NATO and Russia are able to discuss difficult issues in an open, constructive manner
Editor's note:
Deborah B. Wild is a freelance journalist who divides her time between Bucharest, Rumania and Tbilisi Georgia.
