NATO has offered only ‘general statements’ to Georgia for 30 years, Kaladze

Tbilisi Mayor Kakha Kaladze has criticised what he described as decades of vague and non-committal responses from NATO regarding Georgia’s membership aspirations. He made the remarks while commenting on recent statements by NATO chief Mark Rutte.

Kaladze said Georgia had been requesting NATO membership for three decades but had received “nothing concrete” in return.

“For 30 years we have been asking to join NATO. Not only is nothing being done, not even a single step is being taken. We only hear general explanations - nothing specific,” Kaladze told reporters.

Referring to Ukraine, Kaladze argued that Western partners had long promised accession “today or tomorrow,” claiming such assurances ultimately proved unrealistic. He said countries like Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine were often used for geopolitical “speculation”.

“They try to advance their own interests, but our national interests must not be sacrificed,” he said. “We saw what happened in 2008 and what happened in Ukraine. We must be extremely cautious to ensure no one uses our country for their own purposes.”