With the democratic parliamentary elections last month Georgia has passed an important test, but NATO is now looking forward to “a smooth cohabitation” between President Saakashvili and the new government led by PM Ivanishvili, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.

He made the remarks at a news conference after meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at foreign ministerial level in Brussels on December 4 while responding a question from a Georgian journalist that after the elections there were expectations in Georgia of getting Membership Action Plan (MAP) from NATO either during NATO-Georgia Commission meeting on December 5 or in the nearest future.

“The elections in Georgia lived up to democratic standards and Georgia that way passed a very important test. Now we look forward to a smooth cohabitation between the new government and the current President; we look forward to presidential elections next year… conducted in the same democratic way as the parliamentary elections this year,” Rasmussen said.

“We have never planned to have discussions on Membership Action Plan or any other steps at the NATO-Georgia Commission meeting tomorrow,” the NATO Secretary General said.

“The [NATO-Georgia] Commission meeting tomorrow will be the first opportunity for the NATO allies to discuss Georgia’s NATO aspirations with the new government. I am very pleased that the new government has reaffirmed its NATO aspirations, so there seems to be a broad consensus in Georgia that Georgia will continue to pursue future membership of our Alliance and in exchange we have reiterated that the decision we took in Bucharest in 2008, that Georgia will become a member of NATO provided of course that Georgia fulfills the necessary criteria, still stands,” Rasmussen added.