WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 (UPI) -- Georgia's new interim leader Monday defied the Kremlin in her first speech, pledging to seek full membership in the European Union and NATO.
"Georgia will firmly continue to realize the foreign policy course that was chosen by the country from the first days of the restoration of its independence: the road to integration and the joining as soon as possible of European and Euro-Atlantic structures," 39-year-old Nino Burdzhanadze said in her televised address.
"European structures" is diplomatic code-speak for the 15-nation European Union, which is about to expand to 25 nations and an extra 100 million people under its Copenhagen process. And "Euro-Atlantic structures" can only refer to the Brussels-based and U.S.-led NATO alliance.
Russia's reaction to Burzhanadze's comments is not yet clear.
Russian president Vladimir Putin held out hope of cooperation with her Monday, scathingly criticizing Shevardnadze, whom he long sought to undermine. He blasted Shevardnadze for "systematic mistakes" in his foreign policy as well as in domestic and economic affairs.
