Georgia expects integration with NATO will help it restore control over its two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and enable it to replace Russian peacekeepers in the area with an international contingent.
"This would mean that their [breakaway regions'] destructive policies are working and would sharply reduce our chances of settling these conflicts," David Bakradze said.
Shortly after Kosovo declared its independence on February 17, Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, along with Moldova's Transdnestr, asked Russia's parliament, the United Nations and other organizations to recognize their independence.
"Country-candidate status is the only guarantee for Georgia that developments in the conflict zones will continue in a nonviolent manner and within the framework of peaceful dialogue," the minister added.
Georgia has sought NATO membership ever since President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2003. In a recent referendum 77% of Georgians said they are in favor of the former Soviet republic joining NATO.
The country has undergone the first stage of the NATO membership program, called the Individual Partnership Action Plan, to bring the country closer to NATO standards, as well as Intensified Dialogue, which is the second stage and is now seeking to start the Membership Action Plan.
On February 14, Georgia handed a letter to NATO from President Saakashvili requesting the country be accepted into the Western military alliance's membership plan.
