July 20, 2009 - 17:06 AMT
Georgia won't join NATO
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called the hopes of Georgia joining NATO "almost dead."

"Joining with the Alliance and reunification with breakaway South Ossetia and Abkhazia unlikely any time soon," he said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

Saakashvili's address to parliament will come amid months of street protests by his opponents, who are demanding his resignation following conflict with Russia last August. Saakashvili is also accused of growing authoritarianism and failing to pursue democratic reforms.

In his speech, Saakashvili is expected to pledge to set new local elections, to promise more access to the media for his adversaries and to offer the opposition seats on some internal decision-making bodies.