Does Georgia's Road to the EU Lead through Mali?

After the good run that Georgia had with NATO’s Afghan campaign, now Tbilisi is considering backing up the European Union’s security operation in Mali.

With its territory torn apart by separatism and with Russian troops hanging around within a stone/missile-throw away from its capital, you might think Georgia already has too much on its plate as far as security threats go. But Tbilisi, as always, likes to think several moves ahead.

During her visit to Georgia last November, the EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton invited Georgia to chip in some manpower for the bloc’s security projects, the Georgian Ministry of Defense has announced.

“We have received a proposal from [the] EU to consider Georgia’s cooperation with European security and defense institutions and contribution to its missions,” a March 18 ministry statement reads. Georgia said yes and is now working out the kinks, according to the ministry.

The details about the scope and nature of Georgia’s participation in the EU’s 500-men-strong Mali mission are not yet known.  The mission will be training Mali's armed forces to deal with Al-Qaeda-linked Islamic militants who took over part of the West African country earlier this year before being repulsed mostly by French and Chadian forces, with help from Canada and the US.

The likely reasons for Georgia's decision to get involved are straightforward: Tbilisi owes a security favor to the EU for negotiating and monitoring the peace between Georgia and Russia, but, more importantly, the Mali job will help Georgia earn some points for its ultimate goal of joining the EU.

Within Georgia, there is only muffled opposition to sending troops to faraway spots. Divided as they may be on internal matters, the country's key political forces are united in their resolve to join the EU and NATO. This desire was recently canonized in a unanimously approved parliamentary manifest.

Just as was the case with NATO’s Afghan operation, with the EU and Mali, Georgia is willing to take one for the team in hopes that some day it will become part of the team.