One of the least helpful things that the Georgian government has done in response to the war in Ukraine is the narrative that the West and NATO want to drag Georgia into the war, said Robert Hamilton, a US lieutenant colonel, a researcher at the Foreign Policy Research Institute, and a professor at the War College. Hamilton stated about it in an interview with the Georgian editorial office of "Voice of America".

He answered the question of what these 10 months of war mean for Georgia. From Bucharest to Bucharest - what type of help does Georgia need from NATO and what does NATO need to see from Georgia? What security risks are there for Tbilisi when we keep hearing statements that Western politicians "want to drag Georgia into the war"?

According to Hamilton, the narrative that NATO and the West want to drag Georgia into the war is just a lie, and those who say this and do this to justify the position that Georgia has in relation to the war know it.

As for the question of what NATO needs from Georgia, according to the researcher, the Alliance needs Georgia to focus seriously on the national territorial defense of the country.

Regarding the question of how much this war has changed the perception of how important it is to strengthen defense in a country like Georgia, the researcher points out that Georgia should invest in its own defense capabilities, i.e. strengthen its defense against aggression from a military, governmental or public-society point of view, and thus the Alliance will make would perceive Georgia as a more serious membership candidate.

Hamilton was asked that recently in the Congress they were talking about "democratic backsliding" in Georgia and what he thinks about this process or the need to connect the American aid to Georgia with the ongoing democratic processes.

"I think that the very fact that the Congress is discussing the issue of revising the American aid to Georgia, or sanctioning some representatives of the Georgian government - even the very fact that these discussions are taking place is a tragic development of events for Georgia," Hamilton said.

*Quotes in the article have been double-translated from Georgian and wordings may be inaccurate.

source: IPN