The acceptance of new members into NATO without them getting an NATO Membership Action Plan (MAP) is possible from a legal viewpoint," a NATO official told Interfax on Friday.
The activities of NATO are governed by the Washington Treaty, which does not require prospective members to get the MAP, so acceptance into NATO without the MAP is theoretically possible, said the official.
Earlier this week, U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said NATO members are considering alternative ways to accept Ukraine and Georgia in NATO without the MAP.
The MAP was introduced at the NATO summit in Washington in 1999, the official told Interfax. Therefore, Poland and Hungary entered NATO without the MAP stage.
Other countries seeking membership in NATO, for example, Albania and Croatia, have already participated in the MAP, he said.
At the same time, the source stressed that only NATO countries can decide whether or not a specific country should get the MAP.
Speaking about the meeting of the foreign ministers of the NATO countries, which is scheduled for December 2-3, the source said the meeting participants will evaluate the progress achieved by Ukraine and Georgia in terms of the NATO standards and will discuss the most effective assistance that NATO could provide to these countries.
The source pointed out that NATO has not changed its decision to make Georgia and Ukraine members of NATO, as was decided at the Bucharest summit.
