NATO, NOW: Georgia as the New Sudetenland
Filed under: Georgia
Writing in the Wall Street Journal on January 9th Mart Laar, former Prime Minister of Estonia, calls upon Europe and the United States to wake up and smell the Georgian coffee:
Saturday's re-election of Mikheil Saakashvili takes Georgian democracy a step forward. The largely free and fair contest helps repair Georgia's international image, which suffered after November's clashes between opposition protesters and police brought on emergency rule.This doesn't mean that the West can now pay less attention. The lessons learned from countries in transition, not least in the Baltics, is that international involvement is critical for success. And I do not mean just the hands-on support for developing democratic institutions, as important as that is. In this strategic and rough neighborhood, political symbolism and gestures have immense significance. It is crucial for the people and their leaders to feel that the future of their democracy and continued self-determination is a real European concern.
It was Russian pressure on this young democracy, after all, that contributed to the recent crisis. Russia is now the only major country to declare Georgia's elections "undemocratic." Opposed to Georgia's turn to the West after the 2003 Rose Revolution, Moscow launched an economic, energy and propaganda war, cutting trade with Georgia and raising tensions in the two breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The Kremlin's ceaseless pressure has led to mistakes, by both the government and the opposition.
The West can't of course accept any trade-offs between democracy and the rule of law on the one hand, and Georgia's fears of Russia. At the same time, it is unacceptable that Russia seeks to destabilize its neighbors. Europe should not make any trade-offs with Russia on this either. This includes the West's full and nonnegotiable support for Georgia's territorial integrity.
The best way to guarantee the stability in the region is to keep the door open for Georgia to NATO. In a separate vote last Saturday, an overwhelming majority of Georgians supported joining the West's military alliance. As a first step, Georgia has long hoped for an invitation to join NATO's Membership Action Plan, a program designed to help aspiring members meet NATO's standards for democracy and peaceful conflict resolution. Rejecting Georgia's bid now would discourage not only Tbilisi but other countries trying to embrace democracy. Georgia has made impressive progress. As Western politicians we are obliged to continue to engage in this process. This is not the time to bail out, but to be part of the solution.
Are we going to look at our shoes while Russia tries every trick in the book to seize Georgia, just the way Hitler seized the Sudetenland, up to and including military attack when all else fails? Will it be only when images of horrific violence flash across our screens, as they did when Russians marched into Afghanistan, that we finally realize the need to take action, paying a far greater cost than necessary and costing the lives of countless thousands who hoped for better from us?
Georgia must be brought into the NATO fold. Now. A clear signal must be sent to neo-Soviet Russia that any hobnailed toe it plunges outside its border will be cut off; Russia knows full well that it lacks the military wherewithal to challenge NATO, but if NATO will not speak up then it may conclude NATO will not act. Georgia must be given a civilized chance to focus on national development and recovery from Russian exploitation during the Soviet era without spending every waking moment worrying about the next Russian salvo.
Mr. Laar clearly understands: Today Georgia, tomorrow Estonia, the day after that . . . the Sudetenland?
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