Russia blocking the country from joining NATO: Georgia

President Saakashvili said during a meeting with a group of EURONEST Parliamentary Assembly in Tbilisi that Russia’s planned military drills Kazkaz-2012 this fall has been timed deliberately to coincide with parliamentary elections in Georgia.

“All these efforts [Russia’s] are aimed at discrediting the elections on the one hand to intimidate Georgians through use of force and on the other hand to bribe Georgian voters with money from the very same country,” Saakashvili added.

The comments came in response to Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin recent statements that accused Georgia of illegal armed formations close to the administrative border with breakaway region of Abkhazia.

The forthcoming parliamentary elections in Georgia play an important role in the prospects of the country’s aspirations to join NATO.

President Saakashvili has also called for public opinion surveys in order not to let various elements, hired with foreign money, manipulate public opinion on the Election Day.