US President George W. Bush on Friday assured Georgia and Ukraine of US support for both former Soviet states to join the Nato alliance despite Russia's fierce opposition. "Other nations seek a path to Nato membership, and they have the full support of the United States government," Bush said as he signed Nato accession protocols for Albania and Croatia, bringing them one step closer to membership.
"Today I reiterate America's commitment to the Nato aspirations of Ukraine, Georgia, Bosnia-Hercegovina, and Montenegro," said the US president, who has made the alliance's eastward expansion a foreign policy priority. Bush said the United States also looked forward to seeing all nations in the Balkans join Nato - including Macedonia, whose admission into the alliance has stalled because of its name dispute with Greece.
"The great Nato alliance is holding a place for you at our table and we look forward to your admission as a full Nato member as soon as possible," the US president said to Macedonia's ambassador to the United States. Bush said the Serbian people would be welcome into the alliance "should they choose that path."
Earlier, the White House said Bush still hopes that the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation will launch the process of admitting Georgia and Ukraine as members when the alliance meets in December. "We see no reason that they shouldn't get MAP status," spokeswoman Dana Perino said, referring to "membership action plan" that lays out conditions to be fulfilled for entry into Nato but does not guarantee a country full accession.
Perino said Washington had seen "growing support for Georgia and Ukraine given what happened this summer when Russia invaded Georgia" - but France and Germany still oppose granting Tbilisi and Kiev MAP status in December. Early next month, foreign ministers from the 26 Nato nations will meet to review whether to grant membership to the two former Soviet states.
Nato members are divided, however, because they see that while membership could stabilise Georgia and Ukraine, it may also raise tensions with Moscow, which considers the move a threat to its own security. The United States is lobbying Nato to grant membership, but France and Germany are opposed, arguing that the early August conflict between Russia and Georgia shows how the move could exacerbate tensions in the Caucasus region.
Within Ukraine, the population itself remains divided on possible Nato membership, with public opinion split on the nation's allegiances. Nato has already expanded to take in a number of eastern European countries that were once part of the Moscow-controlled Warsaw Pact, despite pledges in the early 1990s not to rush any approach toward Russian borders.
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