NATO to Georgia: Thanks for your service, but...

NATO

Rasmussen addresses Georgian soldiers in Tbilisi

When Georgia lost its first soldier in Afghanistan about a month ago, the question arose as to whether Georgian public support for the deployment in Afghanistan would suffer as a result. Now, as EurasiaNet's Giorgi Lomsadze notes, Georgia just lost four more soldiers to a mine explosion in Helmand province.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili held a press conference with NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasumussen, who happened to be visiting at the time, and spoke extensively about how the soldiers' deaths were in the service of Georgia's national interest:

Yesterday night we have received very unfortunate news about the tragic death of Colonel Ramaz Gogiashvili, Sergeant Dato Tsetskhladze, Corporal George Kolkhitashvili and Corporal Nugzar Kalandadze.

Being Soldier is a very honorable but at the same time very dangerous profession.

This is the profession that requires great devotion and self-sacrifice.

Georgian warriors traditionally, fought in many countries, during all our history.

Our warriors commanded the armies of old Persia, Ottoman Empire, Egypt and Russia...

It would be a big mistake to determine state's interests in the Georgia's borders, while a global political struggle Is conducted against us.

We have international interests and have allies and friends. The fact that our five-crossed flag is raised above this building, also the fact that Georgia successfully proceeds development, as independent country, although 20 percent of its territory is occupied, is the big deserve of our international links, our friends, our communion.

Later, Saakashvili said that NATO accession is Georgia's top strategic priority.

But one journalist asked a pointed question to Rasmussen -- if the Afghanistan deployment is supposed to help Georgia curry favor with NATO members, has it worked? Rasmussen, essentially, dodges the question:

Mr. Secretary General, you have just stated that Georgian soldiers have payed the highest price and the sacrifice won't be in vain. In the way this sacrifice is seen by the Georgia's society as the price which Georgia pays for its aspiration to join the alliance. Do you think that the attitudes of some countries which are strongly opposing Georgia's membership into NATO have changed since 2008 war? And I understand you are not going to tell us any kind of timetable when Georgia might become a member, but probably you would be more specific ahead of upcoming summit of NATO in Portugal. Thank you very much....

Anders Fogh Rasmussen: first of all I would like to stress that we are first and foremost in Afghanistan for our own security to prevent Afghanistan from once again becoming a safe heaven for terrorists, so unfortunately and very sadly some of our soldiers pay the highest price in the fight for our security, for freedom and against the terrorism. That is how I see it. Next part of your question. I would expect the NATO summit in Lisbon to reaffirm our position which we took already in Bucharest in 2008, that Georgia will become a member of NATO once Georgia fulfills the necessary criteria .In the meantime re-continue positive cooperation in the framework of Georgia-Nato commission.

Georgian NATO accession is as far away as ever, regardless of what Georgia is doing in Afghanistan. If the casualties continue to mount, Georgians might be increasingly asking, just what is this war good for?