By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
NATO's chief was due to visit Georgia on Monday in a show of Western support after a war that starkly underscored Russian opposition to the alliance's eastward expansion.
The two-day visit by NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and ambassadors from all 26 members of the alliance was to include the inaugural meeting of a new NATO-Georgia Commission set up to oversee Georgia's membership bid.
Scheduled before Russia and Georgia waged war last month over South Ossetia and another breakaway province, the trip comes as Russia strengthens its grip over the separatist regions in a challenge to pro-Western Georgia's drive to join NATO.
De Hoop Scheffer said last week that NATO wants to show support for Georgia after Russia's use of "disproportionate force" against its smaller neighbor. He also has stressed NATO's condemnation of Russia's recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states last month.
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