Post by Jaga on Jan 25, 2009 21:06:39 GMT -7
see the photo of exhausted Polish prime-minister:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/4338143/Nato-has-no-will-to-admit-Georgia-or-Ukraine.html
Nato is suffering from 'enlargement fatigue' and has no will to admit Georgia or Ukraine, according to Poland's foreign minister Radek Sikorski.
Mr Sikorski, who is a leading contender to become Nato's secretary-general when the Alliance selects a new chief in April, told The Daily Telegraph that membership for both countries was a "fairly distant prospect".
But he denied that Russia, which attaches great importance to thwarting Nato's enlargement, had achieved a victory.
Ukraine and Georgia were both promised Nato membership at a summit in Bucharest last April. But no timetable was offered and, four months later, Russia raised the stakes by invading Georgia.
Mr Sikorski said that Nato should "maintain the Bucharest consensus" and the "credible promise of membership".
Asked whether the will to admit Ukraine and Georgia existed, however, he replied: "Not at the moment. At the moment, there's a will to encourage them to reform themselves. But I believe all of our institutions, both the EU and Nato, suffer from enlargement fatigue."
He added: "It's always harder to enlarge in a recession."
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/poland/4338143/Nato-has-no-will-to-admit-Georgia-or-Ukraine.html
Nato is suffering from 'enlargement fatigue' and has no will to admit Georgia or Ukraine, according to Poland's foreign minister Radek Sikorski.
Mr Sikorski, who is a leading contender to become Nato's secretary-general when the Alliance selects a new chief in April, told The Daily Telegraph that membership for both countries was a "fairly distant prospect".
But he denied that Russia, which attaches great importance to thwarting Nato's enlargement, had achieved a victory.
Ukraine and Georgia were both promised Nato membership at a summit in Bucharest last April. But no timetable was offered and, four months later, Russia raised the stakes by invading Georgia.
Mr Sikorski said that Nato should "maintain the Bucharest consensus" and the "credible promise of membership".
Asked whether the will to admit Ukraine and Georgia existed, however, he replied: "Not at the moment. At the moment, there's a will to encourage them to reform themselves. But I believe all of our institutions, both the EU and Nato, suffer from enlargement fatigue."
He added: "It's always harder to enlarge in a recession."