Posted on 05/12/2005 11:22:48 PM PDT by twinself
Our correspondent reports from Tbilisi on the rising tensions caused by the ex-Soviet republic's bold assertion of sovereignty
GEORGIA’S leadership increased pressure on Russia to withdraw from two Soviet- era military bases yesterday by threatening to blockade them if Moscow did not agree by Sunday to speed their removal. But Russia dismissed the threat as blackmail and said it would not “stand idly by” if sanctions were imposed.
Nino Burdzhanadze, the Speaker of Georgia’s parliament, said that it would ask the Government to impose sanctions, including denying visas to Russian military personnel and restricting the movements of those already in the country.
“If there is no progress in the coming days, parliament will demand that the Government implement our motion,” said Mrs Burdzhanadze — a co- leader of the Rose Revolution that swept a liberal, Western-oriented leader into power in 2003.
President, Saakashvili was given a huge boost on Tuesday when President Bush hailed Georgia as a beacon of liberty in a speech in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.
But relations with Moscow have been strained since the revolution and tensions have grown in recent months as the two sides tried to reach an agreement on two bases close to the border with Turkey. Russia maintains more than 3,000 troops at the bases, which once formed part of the Soviet Union’s significant presence in the Black Sea region. Sergei Lavrov, the Russian Foreign Minister, said last month that they had made “real progress” in the negotiations and that Russia could begin withdrawing from the bases this year.
Georgia, however, said that it was not satisfied and President Saakashvili protested by boycotting ceremonies in Moscow to mark the 60th anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Georgia, which is seeking to join Nato, had been asking Russia to close the bases by 2008. Russia says it needs at least four years.
In March the Georgian parliament passed a non-binding resolution urging the Government to take steps to force Russia to shut its bases by January 1 next year if talks produced no result by May 15. Parliament is dominated by Mr Saakashvili’s party and Mrs Burdzhanadze is one of his closest allies.
But Russia quickly dismissed her comments. “We will not respond to blackmail . . . but if steps are taken to create a threat to our bases . . . then I can assure you, we will not stand idly by,” Mr Lavrov told the Russian parliament.
A Russian Foreign Ministry suggested that Mrs Burdzhanadze was bluffing. “Talks are under way and we will go ahead with them,” Lev Mironov told Interfax. “Georgia has earlier announced decisions concerning the bases. They have said something like this before.”
Mr Bush revealed that he had raised the issue of the bases with President Putin, who replied that his Government was working to fulfil its obligations under an earlier agreement.
But Mr Bush did not explicitly back Georgia’s position to avoid aggravating tensions with Russia over US influence in the former Soviet Union. In the latest evidence of such friction, Russia’s security chief said yesterday that his agency had uncovered US, British, Kuwaiti and Saudi spying that was being conducted under the cover of non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Federal Security Service, also suggested that foreign governments were using NGOs to fund changes of power in former Soviet republics.
Bush's fault!
(((PING)))
Goodbye East Osstia.
Soon to be the former only country with both US and Russian bases active in it's borders.
Kremlin has have less and less friends among their neighbors. I’m curious why? /sarcasm
1. cut off all oil, gas, benzine, electricity to Georgia until debts are fully paid
2. Make the 1 million Georgians living and working in Russia choose either Russian citizenship or return to Georgia, ASAP.
3. Blockade all monetary transfers to Georgia by Georgians in Russia (the main influx of capital to Georgia).
4. Blockade all trade with Georgia (which means their tomatoes will rot, since Russia is their only real market)
5. Respond militarly and properly to dead Islamic Jihadies with Georgian visas in southern Russia
Georgians want to spit and huff, let them, treat them like any other hostile nation and let their piss ant economy rot instead of subsidizing them while they spit in your eye on a daily basis. These guys are just like the Palies whom the Israelies subsidize and in whose eye they spit.
Bush and Georgia's faded 'rose' (Soros revolution not so democratic after all)
And I still support Yuschenko and I’m not foolish enough to believe in your manipulations (like for example false suggestions in headlines), misinterpretations, trolling and false accusations.
That's funny, since the facts pan out in the articles. You're in it for the socialists of the EU, of course you support a fellow traveller like Yushchenko, you're soul mates. But hay, regardless, you and the EU are economic nightmares. Poland is now up to what? 20% unemployment? It's been going up in your year in the EU, wonder why.
Oh by the way, I'm surprised you didn't try to call me an anti-semite again.
Funny thing you can't understand: I don't hate any nation, the only thing I hate is idiologies: Soviet Bolshavism, Nazi (National Socialism), EU Trotyskitism, Islam. So keep trying.
Kyrgestan also has US and Russian bases in it.
Red6
Hold your horses killer.
I don’t think anyone said, “kill the Russians.” They are people and have rights. No one sane and with influence is threatening Russians in Poland, Germany, Ukraine, Lithuania and most other places. The republic of Georgia like the Ukraine and Lithuania were under Russian control. They don’t see the Russians there as a friend, ally or strategic partner. The Russians are there because Georgia is a “flank country” where the Russians don’t want to loose their “sphere of influence”.
Let me make this as simple as possible for you. Chechnya is a Russian “MADE” disaster. Had the Russians not sabotaged the Chechens between the two wars Chechnya MIGHT have made it into a stable republic. There is no doubt if Russia wants they can hurt the Republic of Georgia, you can also dig yourself a deeper hole with another unstable nutso boarder country and watch trains explode and airplanes dive into the ground, schools get taken over, car bombs go off, and theaters in Moscow get taken hostage! Of course once Georgia is in complete chaos and some fundamentalist jihadist is running the show you can state “See, see we need to invade and fix this problem”.
Learn to deal with them. Sell them oil and get rich off them. Buy their Tomatoes (They’re probably good at that-we use hybrids and while big they are tasteless). In the meantime realize that Georgia has its own internal fight against radical groups. Bush is believed to have had a grenade thrown at him during his speech. US Special Forces are on the boarders shooting people with the Georgian governments approval. The Republic of Georgia is more stable, wealthy and is on its way to a true democracy unlike Chechnya on its boarder. Georgia is fairly capable of handeling its issues as they have functioning systems which we still need to build in Iraq and are non-existent in Chechnya.
Fact is, had Russia just left AS PER CONTRACTUAL AGREEMENT, there probably would not be so much friction today. But offering nothing to Georgia, threatening them, and not honoring an agreement to leave creates a perception of an “occupier”, not a friend.
Red6
How exactly did the Russians sabotage the Chechins? They didn't allow them enough slaves? They only had 2 markets running, there was room for expansion. The Georgians did everything they could to stamp as many Islamic visas as they could. According to the deceased Chechin president Kodorov, also the Grand Mufti of Chechnya and a hero of the first war, the Arabs moved in and took everything over.
Finally, let us not forget who started this round of hostilities. Mashkedov tapped Baseyov as Prime Minister. After that, Baseyov led an invasion into the neighboring province of Daghistan. Moscow sat on its hands for a week, hoping things would cool on their own, while Daghistani villages were being slaughtered. Finally they moved in to backup the local militias (Guard) forces. The only people that sabotaged anything were the Chechins and their Arab backers.
How about 15 years of almost free gas/electricity/benzine/oil. Georgian debts to Russia are monsterous and Russian taxpayers are the ones sucking up as the government absorbs those debts or pays off private Russian companies to continue deliveries. I'd say that alone is a hell of a offering.
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