German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Wednesday that it is too soon for Georgia and Ukraine to be awarded NATO candidate status, despite USA’s strong support, AFP informs.
As soon as the German Chancellor arrived at Bucharest, where the NATO Summit takes place, Angela Merkel reiterated Germany’s opposition against Georgia’s and Ukraine’s membership to the NATO Action Plan (MAP), a step forward to their NATO accession process.
This matter represents one of the divergent issues tackeld at the NATO Summit.
"We came to the conclusion that it is too soon for these two ex – soviet countries to be awarded NATO MAP candidate status", the German Chancellor declared.
Merkel emphasized that Germany’s opposition is not on principle and does not represent a final decision. "NATO gates should remain open. We foresee an accession perspective. We wish we could help the two countries to be closer to joining MAP", the German Chancellor said.
Angela Merkel reassured that Germany does not recognize Russia’s right to block their accession. "It is clear that Russia is not the authority to decide who should become a NATO member or not", Merkel added.
(Source:Mediafax)
