Eurasia Insight:
GEORGIA: OPPOSITION LINKS NATO CHIEF'S VISIT TO CURRENT TENSION
10/04/07
A EurasiaNet Partner Post from BBC Monitoring

NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer arrived in Georgia in the late hours of 3 October and had an unofficial meeting with the Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgian Rustavi-2 TV has reported.

Georgian opposition has linked Scheffer's visit to the current tension in Georgia and the arrest of the former Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili. Members of the united opposition say that the Georgian authorities have diverted from the course of reforms and that Georgia at the moment is not prepared to join NATO, the TV reported.

"It is noteworthy that Scheffer's unscheduled visit has coincided with the current events in Georgia. The western community keeps a close watch on the current political processes in Georgia. The fact that the US State Department has already summoned the [Georgian] parliament speaker [Nino Burjanadze] to Washington for consultations is also a confirmation of this. In fact, this means that there are serious concerns regarding these authoritarian processes ongoing in Georgia", opposition Conservative Party MP Kakha Kukava told Rustavi-2.

In the meantime, ruling National Movement Secretary-General Davit Kirkitadze told the TV that "this is a very important visit. Each such visit brings Georgia ever closer to NATO. I am convinced that the secretary general will see himself the progress Georgia has achieved in the past months and it will contribute to Georgia's speedier integration into NATO."

In the early morning of 4 October, Scheffer arrived at Tbilisi State University to deliver a lecture on Georgia's integration into NATO, the TV said.

Following the lecture at the University, Scheffer will head for the State Chancellery to meet Prime Minister [Zurab Noghaideli] and later with Parliament Speaker Nino Burjanadze. He also plans to meet the ambassadors of NATO member states accredited in Georgia. Scheffer will leave Georgia on 4 October, the TV reported.

Editor’s Note: Source: Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi, in Georgian 0500 gmt 4 Oct 07