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MOSCOW-NATO will trigger outright secession by Georgia's Moscow-backed rebel regions if the alliance puts Georgia on the path to membership, Russia's ambassador to NATO told Reuters on Tuesday.The Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions already run their own affairs but pro-western Georgia's bid to join NATO could cement the split and make it more likely foreign states will recognize the separatists, Dmitry Rogozin said in interview.Moscow is fiercely opposed to ex-Soviet neighbor Georgia joining the alliance, and the warning was delivered three weeks before a NATO summit in Romania at which members will consider whether to initiate the membership process for Georgia."Abkhazia and South Ossetia do not intend to join NATO. They have a completely different view," Rogozin said in a telephone interview from Brussels."(Georgian President Mikhail) Saakashvili knows about that. It is precisely for that reason he conducted a referendum (on NATO membership) everywhere except South Ossetia and Abkhazia."That decision was an "historic mistake", said Rogozin, "because in this way he personally excluded Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia."And Rogozin added: "As soon as Georgia gets some kind of prospect from Washington of NATO membership, the next day the process of real secession of these two territories from Georgia will begin."He signaled this could mean Russia throwing its weight behind the separatists' campaign for international recognition, a possibility that alarms Georgia's Western allies who say its territorial integrity should be respected.To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah....
