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NATO deceives Georgia for years by mistranslating its treaty — pro-government party

"The key article stipulating that each country makes its own decision on whether to use or not to use military assistance as it deems necessary, has vanished from the original treaty in its translation," the statement reads
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze Inna Kukudzhanova/TASS
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Kobakhidze
© Inna Kukudzhanova/TASS

TBILISI, June 5. /TASS/. Throughout the past years, NATO has been misleading the people of Georgia with the help of an inaccurate translation of the North Atlantic Treaty, which omits a reservation that the alliance’s members help one another only if they deem it necessary, the Georgian party People’s Power said in a statement.

Being part of the parliamentary majority, People’s Power supports all initiatives of the country’s authorities.

"Unlike the original [text], an essential part that says about the use of armed force was removed from the Georgian version. The key article stipulating that each country makes its own decision on whether to use or not to use military assistance as it deems necessary, has vanished from the original treaty in its translation. The Georgian version presents it in such a manner that if an attack against NATO members occurs, all the countries must engage in military confrontation and to protect the ally from this aggression. There is a question who and why believed it necessary to conduct propaganda based on lies for years and to persuade the people of Georgia that NATO membership a priori means security and guaranteed peace," the statement said.

The party cited the English and Georgian versions of the 1949 North Atlantic Treaty. As the TASS correspondent found out, the translation of Article 5 into Georgian reads that "if such an armed attack occurs, each of them <…> will assist the Party or Parties so attacked by taking forthwith <…> such action, including the use of armed force, to restore and maintain the security of the North Atlantic area." However, the English version contains a reservation that the countries will take "such action as it deems necessary, including the use of armed force."

The party assumes that the answer to a question who has benefitted from deceiving the Georgian people by mistranslating the Treaty is that "the global party of war has for years been exploiting the EU and NATO issue as a tool of influence on people." The party pointed out that people were made to believe that salvation was only through NATO membership, and this manipulation was used against the country’s authorities.

In addition, the statement said that over the past decades, Georgia has been listening to "the empty promises" and the urges to do more and more for NATO membership. As another reason for nihilism concerning integration into the alliance, the party cited US President Joe Biden who said that he had not been prepared to support the "NATOization of Ukraine." The statement emphasized that "the choice is simple" when the West reiterates that the two revolutions have brought democracy to Ukraine, whereas in fact, Tbilisi sees "a ruined country bogged down in the misery of war."