Georgian Defence Minister Irakli Kobakhidze has played down the fact that Georgian accession to NATO was not explicitly mentioned in the NATO summit declaration as has been the case in previous years. Even if Georgia was not mentioned as a candidate member in the declaration on Wednesday, NATO had made clear that membership is open to states in the South Caucasus, Kobakhidze said in Tbilisi. He is convinced that Georgia could eventually join the alliance. NATO did explicitly call for the withdrawal of Russian troops from the breakaway Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Chikovani s…