St PETERSBURG, September 24. /TASS/. Georgia does not have a chance to get NATO membership and it does not have any need for foreign military bases on its territory, Nino Burdjanadze, a former speaker of the national parliament and the leader of the Democratic Movement for United Georgia party said here on Thursday.
"Let's state a realistic thing: Georgia doesn't have a chance for becoming a NATO member and even if had had one after 2008, now this membership is already unrewarding for our country," she said.
- Moscow says NATO training center in Georgia destabilizes regional security
- Accession of Ukraine, Georgia to NATO will have catastrophic consequences — Russia’s envoy
- Russian diplomat: Countries deploying NATO bases are playing with fire
- NATO’s response force makes Russia main hypothetical enemy, says mission
- Eastward expansion secures undisputable strategic advantages for NATO — Russia’s mission
Burdjanadze stressed her reluctance to see the military bases of any foreign country. "Friendship yes, cooperation yes, work together for making life better - yes, but I wouldn’t like to see military bases in our little Georgia under any circumstances, and regardless of the size of the territory, too," she said.
"I think we must build relations in a manner that would make foreign bases unneeded," Burdjanadze said. "Russia should feel confident no threat to it is coming out of our country. These are Russia’s legitimate interests, like the interests of any other state."
"We must realize there is no building security of the state at the expense of security of other countries," she said.