Merkel Signals Support for Georgia's NATO Membership Bid (...) In an apparent change in stance, the chancellor also threw her weight behind Georgia's bid to join the NATO. "Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," Merkel said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi. It was one of the strongest statements yet of support for Georgia's NATO membership bid which is fiercely opposed by Russia. The statement signals a change in Germany's position towards Georgian NATO membership. Earlier this year, Germany led European resistance to plans, pushed by the US, to put Georgia on the track to NATO membership. Later at a joint news conference with Saakashvili, Merkel said that though Georgia was on a clear path to membership in NATO she stood by her decision at a summit in April not to grant Tbilisi a "membership action plan" for joining the alliance.
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In an apparent change in stance, the chancellor also threw her weight behind Georgia's bid to join the NATO.
"Georgia will become a member of NATO if it wants to -- and it does want to," Merkel said before talks with President Mikheil Saakashvili in Tbilisi.
It was one of the strongest statements yet of support for Georgia's NATO membership bid which is fiercely opposed by Russia. The statement signals a change in Germany's position towards Georgian NATO membership. Earlier this year, Germany led European resistance to plans, pushed by the US, to put Georgia on the track to NATO membership.
Later at a joint news conference with Saakashvili, Merkel said that though Georgia was on a clear path to membership in NATO she stood by her decision at a summit in April not to grant Tbilisi a "membership action plan" for joining the alliance.
