NATO to Open Liaison Office in the Caucasus

In a final Communique published on June 28, following sessions of the North Atlantic Council in Istanbul, Turkey, NATO member states agreed to “put special focus on engaging with… Partners in the strategically important regions of the Caucasus and Central Asia.”

To this end “NATO has agreed on improved liaison arrangements, including the assignment of two liaison officers, as well as a special representative for the two regions from within the International Staff.”

The Communique specifically noted the “commitment of the new government of Georgia to reform.”

Georgian officials hinted before the summit that they would welcome the opening of a NATO liaison office in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The communique states that the NATO member states also urged Russia for “a swift resolution of the outstanding issues between Georgia and Russia as set out in their November 17 1999 Istanbul Joint statement” and to this end, called “upon the parties to resume negotiations at an appropriately senior level.”

At the same time, NATO has officially linked “fulfillment of the remaining Istanbul commitments to the Republic of Georgia and the Republic of Moldova” with the ratification of the Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) treaty by the alliance members.

Russia, which failed to meet 1999 Istanbul summit deadlines for troop withdrawal from Georgia and Moldova, has long opposed the linking of the CFE ratification by NATO members to fulfillment of these commitments.

Moscow is concerned that without CFE ratification by the Baltic states, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, NATO would increase its military presence in these new member states.