Ben Birnbaum: Georgia Says it Won't Drag NATO Into War

Georgia's second-most-powerful man vows that his country will NOT drag NATO into a war with Russia , if accepted into the Western alliance, saying that the chance of another confrontation with Moscow is far lower than it was before their 2008 conflict. "We made a unilateral commitment to non-use of force, so there is no way we will become a problem for NATO in terms of Article 5 or in terms of a possible military confrontation between Georgia and Russia," David Bakradze, speaker of the Georgia Parliament, said in an interview with The Washington Times. Article 5 of NATO's founding treaty stipulates that an attack on one member state "shall be considered an attack against them all." "We still have threatening rhetoric on the side of the Russian officials," Mr. Bakradze said, "but I think in the current international situation, its not very likely that Russia will dare to use large-scale military force against Georgia, so, if anyone asks me, I would say that the probability of another invasion or large-scale conflict is low, and it's much lower than it was in 2008." Georgia and Russia have had no diplomatic relations since their 2008 conflict, and Mr. Bakradze blamed the situation squarely on Russia.
"The ball is on the Russian side, because any moment they decide to talk, we're ready to talk," he said. The 2008 war centered on the rebellious Georgian province of South Ossetia. Only Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and a couple of Pacific Island nations have recognized the independence of South Ossetia and its fellow secessionist province of Abkhazia, but the two remain in limbo because of the presence of Russian forces.