French minister opposes Georgia, Ukraine entry to NATO
France's minister for European affairs on Wednesday said he was opposed to Georgia and Ukraine entering the NATO military alliance for now because it would not benefit Europe. "I think that it is not the right time for membership for Georgia and Ukraine," Jean-Pierre Jouyet said on the sidelines of a European Parliament session. "It is not in the interests of Europe or its relations with Russia." NATO foreign ministers are in December set to once again examine Georgia and Ukraine's candidacy for membership, strongly denounced by Moscow. While Jouyet said he was expressing his personal opinion, he in fact confirmed a view repeatedly expressed by Paris.
Along with Germany, France has been reluctant to take the two ex-Soviet states into the alliance and draw the wrath of Russia, which has made it clear it would regard such a move as something close to a hostile action by NATO. Note EU-Digest: this is a wise move. Letting these countries in might be of interest to the US government, it certainly is not in the interest of the EU's relationship with Russia.
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