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NATO chief says EU deal cedes too much to Moscow

NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said yesterday the EU-brokered deal for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia was unacceptable and hard to swallow because it ceded too much ground to Moscow.

De Hoop Scheffer made his comments in an interview with the Financial Times hours before he was to lead a NATO mission to Georgia in a gesture of support for the aspiring alliance member after its forces were routed by Russia last month.

He said Russia was being allowed to retain a military presence inside Georgia’s breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, contravening an EU-brokered plan that sought a return to the status quo before the war.

“If the Russians are staying in South Ossetia with so many forces, I do not consider this as a return to the status quo,” De Hoop Scheffer said.

The NATO chief was to lead all 26 NATO ambassadors on the two-day visit, to include talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on the country’s NATO bid and on reconstruction needs after last month’s Russian military assault, NATO and Georgian officials said.

Russia, which deeply opposes NATO enlargement, has urged the alliance to cancel the visit.
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