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Its Georgian Independence Day - but how many more will there be?
Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili: no one attacks his stance on Russia
At the end of a dusty road leading north from the town of Gori Stalins birthplace a small encampment of sandbags and a Georgian flag marks the border with South Ossetia. About 100 metres away another flag pokes up into the dull sky, but that one is Russian. Neither side has any communication with the other, says an enormous policeman in full camouflage, and it has been more than a year since anyone fired a shot.
In the mountains behind him, however, there are more than 4,000 Russian troops and 1,000 FSB border guards with tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters. Over to the west, in Abkhazia, there is a similar force.
Georgia celebrates its Independence Day today in the belief it is in a fight for existence with a ruthless, implacable enemy. With the loss of Abkhazia and South Ossetia the latter after a short, disastrous war in August 2008 20 per cent of Georgia belongs to someone else.
To the Kremlin these regions are autonomous republics; Georgian politicians use the phrase occupied territories.
When you have foreign forces on Georgian soil you cant describe it any other way than an occupation, says Eka Tkeshelashvili, Secretary of the National Security Council.
The wars in South Ossetia and Abkhazia have left Georgia with about 22,000 refugees to house, some of whom now live in long rows of small buildings that line the road from Tbilisi to Gori, better than tents but no substitute for the homes they were driven out of.
For Russia, Georgia is unfinished business, a top intelligence official told The Times. Apart from the military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he cited a very active intelligence operation, intimidation of investors, support for sympatheticpoliticians and the continued threat of cyber attacks. Hackers managed to cripple Georgias banking system for several days during the August 2008 conflict.
He also raised the fear that the Kremlin would encourage further ethnic unrest to create more conflicts such as that in South Ossetia; Georgia has sizeable Armenian and Azeri populations and several other ethnic groups, including Russians. We are in a fight for our survival, the official said.
To that end Georgia is eager for membership of Nato. The Government has been modernising its armed forces with Western assistance and contributes about 900 troops to the Nato force in Afghanistan. In Tbilisi government buildings ostentatiously display the EU flag next to their own, a sign of an unwavering aspiration to join the club.
Georgia will have to be patient; it is highly unlikely that Nato countries would have any desire to risk being dragged into a fight with Russia in such a volatile area, and some politicians are quietly dismayed at the Obama Administrations efforts topress the reset button on its relations with Moscow. The US has a policy of engagement with Russia which we dont oppose if it leads to positive changes, Ms Tkeshelashvili said.
But the Government has its heart set on Nato membership and is adamant that it will join, Russian objections notwithstanding. Russia still calls the former Soviet states the Near Abroad, meaning that once you were a part of us, and in the future you will be part of us again, said David Bakradze, Speaker of Parliament. We are willing to co-operate on almost everything but we have our red lines: we decide who is our president, not the Kremlin, and we decide if we want to join Nato, not the Kremlin.
While it waits, the Government says that strengthening the countrys democracy and economy is its best defence. Politicians proudly point to progress made in rooting out corruption and modernising the state since Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in the Rose Revolution of 2003, and international observers back this up. Transparency International ranks it at 67th out of 179 countries in its annual index, a vast improvement compared to only a few years ago. Yet unemployment remains a big problem. Official statistics put it at about 15 per cent but the true figure is probably higher and levels of foreign investment are still low.
For all the criticisms of Mr Saakashvili that he is too powerful, too flashy and too fond of favouring friends and allies no one attacks his stance on Russia. The more concessions you make, the more Russia wants, the President told reporters this week. Show me one example when lying down before Russia proved successful.
If we give up the idea of territorial integrity we are deeply damaged as a state, said Mr Bakradze. We may have resumed flights [this week] and have diplomatic relations but there is no solution to our long-term relations unless and until Moscow accepts Georgia as a normal neighbour.
Its Georgian Independence Day - but how many more will there be? - Times Online
Georgia's President Mikheil Saakashvili: no one attacks his stance on Russia
At the end of a dusty road leading north from the town of Gori Stalins birthplace a small encampment of sandbags and a Georgian flag marks the border with South Ossetia. About 100 metres away another flag pokes up into the dull sky, but that one is Russian. Neither side has any communication with the other, says an enormous policeman in full camouflage, and it has been more than a year since anyone fired a shot.
In the mountains behind him, however, there are more than 4,000 Russian troops and 1,000 FSB border guards with tanks, armoured vehicles and helicopters. Over to the west, in Abkhazia, there is a similar force.
Georgia celebrates its Independence Day today in the belief it is in a fight for existence with a ruthless, implacable enemy. With the loss of Abkhazia and South Ossetia the latter after a short, disastrous war in August 2008 20 per cent of Georgia belongs to someone else.
To the Kremlin these regions are autonomous republics; Georgian politicians use the phrase occupied territories.
When you have foreign forces on Georgian soil you cant describe it any other way than an occupation, says Eka Tkeshelashvili, Secretary of the National Security Council.
The wars in South Ossetia and Abkhazia have left Georgia with about 22,000 refugees to house, some of whom now live in long rows of small buildings that line the road from Tbilisi to Gori, better than tents but no substitute for the homes they were driven out of.
For Russia, Georgia is unfinished business, a top intelligence official told The Times. Apart from the military presence in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, he cited a very active intelligence operation, intimidation of investors, support for sympatheticpoliticians and the continued threat of cyber attacks. Hackers managed to cripple Georgias banking system for several days during the August 2008 conflict.
He also raised the fear that the Kremlin would encourage further ethnic unrest to create more conflicts such as that in South Ossetia; Georgia has sizeable Armenian and Azeri populations and several other ethnic groups, including Russians. We are in a fight for our survival, the official said.
To that end Georgia is eager for membership of Nato. The Government has been modernising its armed forces with Western assistance and contributes about 900 troops to the Nato force in Afghanistan. In Tbilisi government buildings ostentatiously display the EU flag next to their own, a sign of an unwavering aspiration to join the club.
Georgia will have to be patient; it is highly unlikely that Nato countries would have any desire to risk being dragged into a fight with Russia in such a volatile area, and some politicians are quietly dismayed at the Obama Administrations efforts topress the reset button on its relations with Moscow. The US has a policy of engagement with Russia which we dont oppose if it leads to positive changes, Ms Tkeshelashvili said.
But the Government has its heart set on Nato membership and is adamant that it will join, Russian objections notwithstanding. Russia still calls the former Soviet states the Near Abroad, meaning that once you were a part of us, and in the future you will be part of us again, said David Bakradze, Speaker of Parliament. We are willing to co-operate on almost everything but we have our red lines: we decide who is our president, not the Kremlin, and we decide if we want to join Nato, not the Kremlin.
While it waits, the Government says that strengthening the countrys democracy and economy is its best defence. Politicians proudly point to progress made in rooting out corruption and modernising the state since Mikhail Saakashvili came to power in the Rose Revolution of 2003, and international observers back this up. Transparency International ranks it at 67th out of 179 countries in its annual index, a vast improvement compared to only a few years ago. Yet unemployment remains a big problem. Official statistics put it at about 15 per cent but the true figure is probably higher and levels of foreign investment are still low.
For all the criticisms of Mr Saakashvili that he is too powerful, too flashy and too fond of favouring friends and allies no one attacks his stance on Russia. The more concessions you make, the more Russia wants, the President told reporters this week. Show me one example when lying down before Russia proved successful.
If we give up the idea of territorial integrity we are deeply damaged as a state, said Mr Bakradze. We may have resumed flights [this week] and have diplomatic relations but there is no solution to our long-term relations unless and until Moscow accepts Georgia as a normal neighbour.
Its Georgian Independence Day - but how many more will there be? - Times Online
