Epress.am News from Armenia
During his visit to Tbilisi, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that the North Atlantic Alliance is working toward accepting Georgia into its ranks.
According to Azerbaijani political analyst Ragim Gajiev, NATO has decided to strengthen its support for Georgia, which is experiencing serious problems in relations with Russia, reports Azadlig (RFE/RL Azerbaijan).
Gajiev believes that behind Rasmussen’s resolute and confident statements is the increasing interest by the US in the South Caucasus.
“This is the consequence of the recent agreement between Russia and Armenia to extend the term of the Russian military base in Gyumri. The Russian-Armenian agreement speaks to Moscow’s serious intentions to maintain its influence in the South Caucasus for as long as possible.
“As an alternative to this process, the West sees an alliance between Turkey and Georgia, and Azerbaijan’s accession to this alliance would strengthen Western positions in this region. In this case, the Armenian-Russian alliance would be a formality which would yield no power,” said Gajiev.