US Congress votes to back Ukraine, Georgia's NATO bid

IANS

Washington - The US House of Representatives gave a final backing to NATO's further eastward enlargement, including bids from ex-Soviet Georgia and Ukraine, continuing a drive that has unnerved Russia.

The NATO Freedom Consolidation Act of 2007, already approved by the Senate March 15, envisions $12 million in aid to Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine in 2008, which "have clearly stated their desire to join NATO and are working hard to meet the specified requirements for membership."

A total of $30 million will be allocated from the US budget to the countries between 2008 and 2012, under the bill that is yet to be signed by President George W. Bush, the official Russian news agency said.

Georgia has pushed to join the Cold War-era organization since Western-educated President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power on the back of mass protests in 2003 hoping the membership will help it regain control of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia Tbilisi.

In mid-March, despite bitter differences on domestic issues, Georgia's parliament voted unanimously to carry on with the NATO bid.

Feeling uneasy about the opening of NATO bases on the territory of Russia's former Soviet allies in the Baltic region and Central Asia, Moscow strongly opposes efforts by Georgia and Ukraine to join the alliance.