Georgia/Russia: The neighbours will talk

The presidents of Poland and the Baltic states — Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia — release a joint statement on the Russian invasion of Georgia. The statement contains a direct rebuke of NATO for putting Georgian accession to NATO on the slow track:

We regret that not granting of the NATO’s Membership Action Plan (MAP) to Georgia was seen as a green light for agression in the region.

And, perhaps crucially, the statement closes with this (slightly wonkily-translated) open invitation:

"This Declaration is open for the accession by the leaders of other democratic countries."

So there’s an option for, say, Canada’s prime minister, if he shares the analysis of its Central and Eastern European colleagues.

I wouldn’t sign it, because I disagree with the paragraph I cite above. But the prime minister has, on occasion, sought to get noticed in what’s sometimes called New Europe. Here’s his chance...