The pressure to have Georgia become part of NATO may be having an adverse effect upon the state of Abkhazia. While ostensibly part of Georgia, Abkhazia's population is largely non-Georgian, but pro-Russian.
Under the Soviet Union, Abkhazia had the status of an Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic within the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic. This status was recognized within Chapter 10, Article 85 of the Soviet constitution of 1977.
The office of NATO Secretary General Scheffer has released a brief statement expressing concern over Russia's attempts to establish legal links with the Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The BBC article "
Russia warned over Georgia move" has a map of the region showing the areas in question.
In my recollection, NATO was formed to counter the evident iron bloc that formed around the Soviet Union after World War II. Some questions to ask: What is the role of NATO after the Cold War? (The first one, anyway.) Do we still need NATO? What is the significance of having eastern European states join NATO?
Puzzling.
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