NATO skeptics firm on Ukraine, Georgia: diplomats

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - France, Germany and a handful of other west European nations are sticking to their opposition to a U.S.-backed push to grant Ukraine and Georgia membership plans at next week's NATO summit, diplomats said on Thursday.

There must be full consensus among NATO's 26 allies before the two ex-Soviet states can embark on a step intended to prepare them for eventual membership of the Western military alliance, which Russia bitterly opposes.

Backed by Canada and most ex-communist central European NATO members, Washington has in recent days stepped up calls for Ukraine and Georgia to be granted a so-called "Membership Action Plan" at the summit in Bucharest starting next Wednesday.

But diplomats said France and Germany continued to argue that such a step was premature given NATO's poor public image in Ukraine and concerns over unsolved conflicts in two Russian-backed breakaway Georgian regions.

They said Paris and Berlin were backed by a group of west European states including Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain, Portugal and Italy -- although other officials characterized the Italian position as undecided on the question of timing.

"NATO has never given MAP to countries in the situation faced by either Ukraine or Georgia. We can decide in one year's time," said a senior diplomat from one of the skeptical nations, referring to the next NATO summit planned for 2009.

Only Germany has been vocal in public about its skepticism, with both Chancellor Angela Merkel and Foreign Minister Frank Walter Steinmeier voicing their doubts.

Diplomats said as many as 11 nations expressed reservations at a closed-door meeting of NATO foreign ministers earlier this month.

"If anything, the momentum is slightly in favor of there being more countries in favor of granting MAP. But NATO works with full consensus," said one envoy, making clear that a single country would be enough to block any decision.

Before NATO's last summit in Riga in 2006, several allies opposed giving Serbia a lower-level partnership agreement until last-minute U.S. pressure convinced them to stop resisting.

Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze acknowledged after talks at NATO on Wednesday that a number of allies had doubts about granting Georgia a MAP at Bucharest.

A day before, Russian president-elect Dmitry Medvedev said any decision by NATO to grant membership to Georgia or Ukraine would undermine European security.

(Editing by Janet Lawrence)