NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, said on November 13, that the August war had changed the European security environment.

“The unilateral recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, violating basic principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity will not lead to the viable Euro-Atlantic security structure we seek to achieve in constructive engagement with Russia,” he said while speaking in his opening remarks at the NATO-Ukraine consultations in Tallinn.

“A country’s right to freely choose its security alignments is another important principle in this regard and a test for the Europe that we all seek to build.  It is a principle that we will not compromise,” he added.