Lithuania and Poland on Monday urged NATO foreign ministers to offer Georgia and Ukraine a path to membership when they meet to discuss Russia's military intervention in the Caucasus, according to dpa. Polish President Lech Kaczynski and Lithunian President Valdas Adamkus made the appeal before Tuesday's NATO emergency meeting in Brussels, citing "the uncontrolled violence and use of force in Georgia." A so-called NATO membership action plan (MAP) for the two countries was "the only means to stabilize the region and bring security to ordinary people," the two leaders said in a statement. "Making reference to the Bucharest NATO Declaration, which clearly stresses that Georgia and Ukraine will be NATO members, we ask the NATO leaders to instruct their ministers of foreign affairs to consider granting NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia and Ukraine as soon as possible," the statement said. Hungarian Defence Minister Imre Szekeres and US Ambassador to Budapest April H Foley said Monday Georgia should be allowed to join the Western alliance after meeting in Szolnok in central Hungary. Georgia would nevertheless not be represented at the meeting of NATO defence ministers scheduled for Budapest in October, Szekeres said, according to a report by the Hungarian news agency MTI. Latvia also urged NATO to admit Georgia. "We support offering a MAP to Georgia as soon as possible," Andris Pelss, a foreign policy adviser to Latvian president, told dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa on Monday. Latvian President Valdis Zatlers called on NATO to make "a strong stance" on the Georgian-Russian military conflict at the emergency meeting of NATO foreign ministers in a phone conversation with US President George W Bush.
