We Should End Putin’s de Facto Veto on Ukraine and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic Aspirations, Former NATO SEC-Gen Rasmussen Says
By Khatia Bzhalava
Tuesday, January 4, 2022
Former NATO secretary-general Anders Fogh Rasmussen has told a media outlet, Politico, that it is time that Georgia and Ukraine become NATO members as promised at the 2008 Bucharest Summit. According to him, this could be done with a proviso stating that NATO’s Article 5 only covers the territory controlled by Kyiv and Tbilisi, stating that “NATO cannot have an open-door policy on enlargement in which it continues to allow Putin to act as the doorman”.
Rasmussen noted that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s de facto veto on Ukraine and Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic aspirations must be halted, noting that Putin stirs up low-level conflicts in these countries according to his needs.
“Russia has already signed the 1999 OSCE Charter, which grants “the inherent right of every participating State to be free to choose or change its security arrangements, including treaties of alliance, as they evolve,” he told Politico.
According to Rasmussen, even though NATO seeks peaceful cooperation with Russia and sought to include Moscow in discussions about the European security architecture, ‘that cooperation has been made difficult by Putin’s behavior’. Former NATO secretary-general claims that when he met Putin for the first time as NATO secretary-general, “he opened our meeting by telling me he wanted to disband NATO,” noting that this desire of Russian President will be fulfilled If NATO allies engage with Russia’s most recent proposals for a new security relationship in Europe. Rasmussen also notes that if Russia attacks Ukraine, NATO must send military aid to Ukraine and launch economic sanctions that will cripple the Russian economy.
On December 10, the Russian Foreign Ministry urged NATO to annul the 2008 NATO Bucharest Summit decision which says that Georgia and Ukraine will become NATO members. According to the statement, ‘to ensure the vital interests of European security,’ the decision made at the Bucharest summit should be disavowed. Current NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg noted in response that NATO’s position remains unchanged, stating that it is a fundamental principle that every nation has the right to choose its path.
