NATO has once again reaffirmed its unswerving stance on the status of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Washington and Brussels are still seeing these states, recognized by Russia, as a part of Georgia, and it is unlikely that such declarations have only the character of public rhetoric. They suggest a set of actions aiming to adjust the status quo in the region, created after August 2008. This is already affecting and will further affect the functioning of international and European formats, within the frames of which are discussed the issues of security and stability inTranscaucasia.
Members of the NATO summit in Chicago have already appealed to all the interested parties "to play a constructive role "and continue working closely with the OSCE, UN and EU for the "peaceful settlementof the conflict in the internationally recognized territory of Georgia." As you can see, neither Abkhazia nor South Ossetia have been included in this formulation. All this has excluded any meaningful dialogue between Moscow and Brussels on the Abkhazian and South Ossetian problems, because the stated goals of the Alliance de facto are aimed at creating conditions conducive to the resumption of military confrontation.
However, the statement of NATO has one positive side: they once again dispel the illusions and knock the bottom out of the Russian propagandists for cooperation with NATO and those who throws into the Russian information space the sly (to speak softly) thesis of the possibility of geopolitical reorientation of Tbilisi, at the cost of de facto "surrender" of Sukhum and Tskhinval.
Andrei Areshev, Head of the Institute of Political and Social Studies, the Black Sea-Caspian region
