Important Moment: Georgia’s Perspective

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, after NATO allies at the Bucharest Summit made clear that Georgia and Ukraine should be offered membership in the future. Although Georgia remains outside of the alliance, partially due to worries of some NATO countries about provoking Russia again, Georgia still looks poised to be invited into NATO. At the NATO heads of state summit in Warsaw this July, Montenegro – a country soon to be made the newest NATO member – took part, signaling to prospective member countries that NATO expansion is on the agenda. The Cipher Brief spoke with Georgia’s permanent representative to NATO, Ambassador Alexander Maisuradze, who was at the summit about progress made there.

The Cipher Brief: What are the highlights of the NATO Summit that took place in Warsaw on July 8 and 9? And was the question of NATO expansion high on the agenda?