'Russia Should Follow Georgia's Lead'

Now Russia has issued passports [to ethnic Russians] in the Crimea?
They are doing in the Crimea exactly the same thing they have done in Georgia. I think that if they can get away with annexing Georgia's territories they will try …

Russia will try to annex South Ossetia?
They already have decreed annexation by [giving them] so-called independence. It is certainly not independence—from my point of view, it is annexation. If they get away with this effort, they will go after Crimea. For nationalists in Russia, the Russian Empire will not be back until Crimea is back.

So is Russia ' s eye on Ukraine now?
Vladimir Putin has made it no secret that he especially wants two people's heads: that of [Ukrainian President] Victor Yuschenko and myself. He always prides himself that he never gives up on his demands. Ukraine is a real democracy, and that is something that makes it very special and different from Russia.

How important is NATO membership to you?
It is very important, but it is part of the overall agenda of becoming closer to European structures and Western alliances. We have sacrificed a lot for that, and we will never give up this dream.

But NATO membership means extending a nuclear umbrella. So there is some concern.
I think we are in a situation where NATO has to reinvent itself.

Do you think that if you forgot about NATO membership, Russia would leave you alone?
It is not about NATO. It is about two conflicting systems, two conflicting ideas, two conflicting ways of life. Russia genuinely resents the fact that Georgia and Ukraine are democracies and have free societies.