02.03.2010 - 03.03.2010
Eine Männerfreundschaft? Frankreichs Präsident Nicolas Sarkozy und Russlands Staatsoberhaupt Dmitri Medwedew - 03.03.2010, dradio
Mit dem Satz "Ich weiß, wie man Russland zivilisiert" wird der französische Präsident auch in deutschen Zeitungen zitiert. ... Er spielt den Modernisierer, zeigt im Rollenspiel mit Putin das weiche Gesicht Moskaus, der andere mimt den Verbrüderer - oder zumindest den Freund: "Je le recois comme un ami..."
Keine Einigung über Kriegsschiff-Deal mit Moskau - 02.03.2010, Focus
Über den Verkauf von französischen Kriegsschiffen an Russland wird weiter nur verhandelt. ... am Montagabend nach einem Treffen Sarkozy/Medwedew keine Einigung über das geplante Geschäft verkündbar ... USA fürchten Technologietransfer zum Schaden der NATO-Interessen ... Beteiligung von GDF Suez an der Gaspipeline Nord Stream durch die Ostsee ... bald Russen ohne Visa nach Frankreich ... Ausstellung mit russischer Sakralkunst im Louvre-Museum eröffnt ... in Moskau gerade Pablo-Picasso-Schau im Puschkin-Museum eröffnet.
Sarkozy forciert seine neue Wunsch-Entente mit Russland - 02.03.2010, Welt
Für die darbende französische Werftindustrie wäre der russische Auftrag ein Segen. Es wäre allerdings das erste Mal, dass ein Nato-Mitgliedsland Russland ein Kriegsschiff liefert. ... aber auch Skepsis: Die Zahl der russischen Spione in Frankreich sei seit 1985 nicht mehr so hoch gewesen wie zurzeit, warnt der französische Geheimdienst DCRI.
Sarkozy verkauft Russen Hubschrauber-Träger - 02.03.2010, derStandard
Frankreich will Russland heikle Militärtechnologie verkaufen und brüskiert Partner ... und weitere Waffengeschäfte sind im Gespräch ... leichte Panzer ... Geheimverhandlungen über Raketenlieferungen ...
Frankreich blickt wieder einmal nach Osten - 02.03.2010, NZZ
... Mit einer offenen Haltung gegenüber Russland strebt Sarkozy nun darüber hinaus eine Schlüsselrolle in der Gestaltung eines neuen Verhältnisses zu Moskau an. ...
Critics say proposed sale of French Mistral ship to Russia will harm region - 03.02.2010, washingtonpost.com
When the French navy's 23,700-ton Mistral-class amphibious assault ship dropped anchor in St. Petersburg's frigid harbor Nov. 23, it was doing more than paying a friendly visit to the Russians.
Stichworte: Georgien, Russland, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Posts für Suchanfrage Sarkozy werden nach Relevanz sortiert angezeigt. Nach Datum sortieren Alle Posts anzeigen
Posts für Suchanfrage Sarkozy werden nach Relevanz sortiert angezeigt. Nach Datum sortieren Alle Posts anzeigen
Georg. Abgeordnete senden int. Appell an Abgeordnete von 31 Ländern: Abchasien und Südossetien sollen als von Russland besetzte Gebiete erklärt werden
08.04.2010 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Georgian parliamentary committee for foreign relations has requested lawmakers from 31 countries to “declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia” in those territories.
“We sincerely hope that you can adopt appropriate statements of support on these matters,” a letter by the parliamentary committee reads.
The letter, according to the parliamentary committee for foreign relations, was sent to its counterpart committees of legislative bodies from 20 EU-member states, plus Norway and Island, as well as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, New Zeeland, South Korea, Japan, Israel and the United States.
“Russian policy continues to pursue the systematic undermining of Georgian sovereignty, the increased militarization of the territories Moscow has occupied, and the justification of ethnic cleansing campaigns used against Georgians in those territories. All components of this policy seek to derail Georgia’s progress and ongoing efforts at reform, as well as Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic foreign policy alignment,” the letter reads.
Brief vom Kommittee für auswärtige Beziehungen des georgischen Parlaments
Letter by Georgian Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 8 Apr.'10 / 19:13
The Georgian Parliament is genuinely grateful for your support of the non-recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent territories following the Russian invasion of Georgia and the occupation of these territories.
With this letter, we aim to update you on the current state of the Russian occupation. We also seek the continued vigilance and action of your Parliament and your committee in helping reverse the consequences of last year’s invasion – consequences that are grave not only for Georgia, but potentially dangerous for all of Europe.
Today, more than one year after the Russian invasion, Georgia finds itself in a promising, yet profoundly precarious, situation. On the one hand, our commitment to deepening democratic reforms remains unshakeable. We have strengthened the roles of the Parliament, the judiciary, and the media, while also improving our electoral code and undertaking a constitutional reform process. Our fight against corruption continues unabated, and we are especially proud that Transparency International’s recent Corruption Barometer survey put Georgia on par with northern European countries. Meanwhile, we continue to pursue reforms that will further enhance the ease of doing business in Georgia to attract more foreign investors.
On the other hand, Russia still occupies 20 percent of Georgian territory—including areas controlled by the Georgian government before August 2008. This is in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Sarkozy and the fundamental norms of international law. In fact, Russia remains in full or partial violation of every single point of the six-point Sarkozy ceasefire agreement: Moscow is building three large-scale (including air and naval) military bases in the occupied territories, as well as numerous smaller military installations, which include long-range artillery and strategic missiles (SS 21 and SS 26). Incidents of Russian military warplanes, helicopters, and reconnaissance aircraft violating Georgian air space have increased. Russia has also illegally deployed squadrons of patrol boats in the Abkhazian section of Georgian territorial waters.
The EU-mandated Independent International Fact Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG) last fall found Russia responsible for ethnic cleansing in these territories. But Russia has refused to reverse the results of this cleansing and to allow its victims to return home. In addition to finding Russia culpable of ethnic cleansing during and after its 2008 invasion, the EU-mandated mission also established that those acts qualify as crimes against humanity (Part II, Ch 7, pp 393-394). Meanwhile, Resolution 1633 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also established that the Russian Federation bears responsibility for the above acts. The Russian-sponsored campaign to remove Georgians from Abkhazia in the 1990s, which deprived this province of up to 75 percent of its pre-war population, was recognized as ethnic cleansing by heads of states of the OSCE in Budapest (1994), Lisbon (1996) and Istanbul (1999), as well as by the UN General Assembly in 2008.
Notwithstanding the incident-prevention mechanism agreed to at the Geneva talks, Russian troops have consistently engaged in the kidnapping of Georgian citizens from Georgian territory adjacent to the occupied regions, including a number of teenagers who were held in illegal detention for more than a month. Russian FSB Border Forces deployed alongside the administrative boundary seek to cement the isolation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia by denying individuals living in these territories the freedom of movement. Last but not least, in open violation of the EU-brokered ceasefire, Russia still refuses to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) access to the occupied territories.
Russian policy continues to pursue the systematic undermining of Georgian sovereignty, the increased militarization of the territories Moscow has occupied, and the justification of ethnic cleansing campaigns used against Georgians in those territories. All components of this policy seek to derail Georgia’s progress and ongoing efforts at reform, as well as Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic foreign policy alignment.
It is our strong belief that Moscow’s attempt to change borders by force is not only illegal but threatens the most important principles of post-WWII European security agreements, including those outlined in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. We are therefore grateful that you stand with us in the non-recognition of the “status quo” achieved by force. Only consistent international pressure and dialogue can force the reconsideration of such policies. We strongly believe that an increased international presence on the ground – including by granting the EUMM access to these territories and by considering the deployment of an international police force – is the only path to true stability.
The alternative to pursuing the reversal of the ethnic cleansing campaign is allowing the Russian narrative, which seeks to legalise Moscow’s actions, to set a new baseline for others who seek to operate through such actions in the future. Europe saw so much of this in the 20th century. We cannot allow this to be the way of this new century, as well.
It is in this context that we appeal to your committee and your parliament to:
* Reinforce the non-recognition policy with clear reference to international law;
* Declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia (based on Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 12 August 1949; the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949; and to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977).
We may not be able to push the occupying power out of the occupied territories imminently, but we are responsible, as members of the UN, CoE and the OSCE, as well as parties of the Geneva convention and its protocols, to constantly remind the occupying force of its responsibilities.
We believe the facts are clear, and that they speak for themselves. We count on your understanding and trust your support to ensure the strict implementation of the EU-brokered ceasefire agreement and to uphold the most basic principles of international law.
We sincerely hope that you can adopt appropriate statements of support on these matters. While the outcome of this situation is vital to the future of Georgia, we also believe that it is vital to the future of the European community and the principles that have led to peace and prosperity across much of the continent.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Georgian parliamentary committee for foreign relations has requested lawmakers from 31 countries to “declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia” in those territories.
“We sincerely hope that you can adopt appropriate statements of support on these matters,” a letter by the parliamentary committee reads.
The letter, according to the parliamentary committee for foreign relations, was sent to its counterpart committees of legislative bodies from 20 EU-member states, plus Norway and Island, as well as Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Australia, New Zeeland, South Korea, Japan, Israel and the United States.
“Russian policy continues to pursue the systematic undermining of Georgian sovereignty, the increased militarization of the territories Moscow has occupied, and the justification of ethnic cleansing campaigns used against Georgians in those territories. All components of this policy seek to derail Georgia’s progress and ongoing efforts at reform, as well as Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic foreign policy alignment,” the letter reads.
Brief vom Kommittee für auswärtige Beziehungen des georgischen Parlaments
Letter by Georgian Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Relations
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 8 Apr.'10 / 19:13
The Georgian Parliament is genuinely grateful for your support of the non-recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent territories following the Russian invasion of Georgia and the occupation of these territories.
With this letter, we aim to update you on the current state of the Russian occupation. We also seek the continued vigilance and action of your Parliament and your committee in helping reverse the consequences of last year’s invasion – consequences that are grave not only for Georgia, but potentially dangerous for all of Europe.
Today, more than one year after the Russian invasion, Georgia finds itself in a promising, yet profoundly precarious, situation. On the one hand, our commitment to deepening democratic reforms remains unshakeable. We have strengthened the roles of the Parliament, the judiciary, and the media, while also improving our electoral code and undertaking a constitutional reform process. Our fight against corruption continues unabated, and we are especially proud that Transparency International’s recent Corruption Barometer survey put Georgia on par with northern European countries. Meanwhile, we continue to pursue reforms that will further enhance the ease of doing business in Georgia to attract more foreign investors.
On the other hand, Russia still occupies 20 percent of Georgian territory—including areas controlled by the Georgian government before August 2008. This is in direct violation of the ceasefire agreement brokered by President Sarkozy and the fundamental norms of international law. In fact, Russia remains in full or partial violation of every single point of the six-point Sarkozy ceasefire agreement: Moscow is building three large-scale (including air and naval) military bases in the occupied territories, as well as numerous smaller military installations, which include long-range artillery and strategic missiles (SS 21 and SS 26). Incidents of Russian military warplanes, helicopters, and reconnaissance aircraft violating Georgian air space have increased. Russia has also illegally deployed squadrons of patrol boats in the Abkhazian section of Georgian territorial waters.
The EU-mandated Independent International Fact Finding Mission on the Conflict in Georgia (IIFFMCG) last fall found Russia responsible for ethnic cleansing in these territories. But Russia has refused to reverse the results of this cleansing and to allow its victims to return home. In addition to finding Russia culpable of ethnic cleansing during and after its 2008 invasion, the EU-mandated mission also established that those acts qualify as crimes against humanity (Part II, Ch 7, pp 393-394). Meanwhile, Resolution 1633 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe also established that the Russian Federation bears responsibility for the above acts. The Russian-sponsored campaign to remove Georgians from Abkhazia in the 1990s, which deprived this province of up to 75 percent of its pre-war population, was recognized as ethnic cleansing by heads of states of the OSCE in Budapest (1994), Lisbon (1996) and Istanbul (1999), as well as by the UN General Assembly in 2008.
Notwithstanding the incident-prevention mechanism agreed to at the Geneva talks, Russian troops have consistently engaged in the kidnapping of Georgian citizens from Georgian territory adjacent to the occupied regions, including a number of teenagers who were held in illegal detention for more than a month. Russian FSB Border Forces deployed alongside the administrative boundary seek to cement the isolation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia from Georgia by denying individuals living in these territories the freedom of movement. Last but not least, in open violation of the EU-brokered ceasefire, Russia still refuses to allow the European Union Monitoring Mission (EUMM) access to the occupied territories.
Russian policy continues to pursue the systematic undermining of Georgian sovereignty, the increased militarization of the territories Moscow has occupied, and the justification of ethnic cleansing campaigns used against Georgians in those territories. All components of this policy seek to derail Georgia’s progress and ongoing efforts at reform, as well as Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic foreign policy alignment.
It is our strong belief that Moscow’s attempt to change borders by force is not only illegal but threatens the most important principles of post-WWII European security agreements, including those outlined in the Helsinki Final Act of 1975. We are therefore grateful that you stand with us in the non-recognition of the “status quo” achieved by force. Only consistent international pressure and dialogue can force the reconsideration of such policies. We strongly believe that an increased international presence on the ground – including by granting the EUMM access to these territories and by considering the deployment of an international police force – is the only path to true stability.
The alternative to pursuing the reversal of the ethnic cleansing campaign is allowing the Russian narrative, which seeks to legalise Moscow’s actions, to set a new baseline for others who seek to operate through such actions in the future. Europe saw so much of this in the 20th century. We cannot allow this to be the way of this new century, as well.
It is in this context that we appeal to your committee and your parliament to:
* Reinforce the non-recognition policy with clear reference to international law;
* Declare the two Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as being territories under Russian occupation and recognise the ethnic cleansing committed by Russia (based on Geneva Convention (IV) relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, 12 August 1949; the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949; and to the Protection of Victims of International Armed Conflicts (Protocol I), 8 June 1977).
We may not be able to push the occupying power out of the occupied territories imminently, but we are responsible, as members of the UN, CoE and the OSCE, as well as parties of the Geneva convention and its protocols, to constantly remind the occupying force of its responsibilities.
We believe the facts are clear, and that they speak for themselves. We count on your understanding and trust your support to ensure the strict implementation of the EU-brokered ceasefire agreement and to uphold the most basic principles of international law.
We sincerely hope that you can adopt appropriate statements of support on these matters. While the outcome of this situation is vital to the future of Georgia, we also believe that it is vital to the future of the European community and the principles that have led to peace and prosperity across much of the continent.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Aufruf an die internationale Politik anlässlich des Jahrestages der russischen Invasion in Georgien am 08.08.2008
08.08.2009 | Georgien-Nachrichten.com | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Aufruf an die internationale Politik anlässlich des Jahrestages
der russischen Invasion in Georgien am 08.08.2008
durch die georgische Diasporagemeinschaft in Deutschland
Am 08.08.2008 stießen russische Streitkräfte auf georgisches Territorium vor und – wie später bekannt wurde – waren in den Tagen zuvor bereits reguläre Militärs in Südossetien zu Übungen und Erkundungen eingeschleust worden, z. B. Interview Generalmajor Borisow.
Die internationale Politik erreichte im August 2008 Verhandlungsergebnisse zwischen Georgien und Russland in Form des Sechs-Punkte-Planes mit späteren Zusatzvereinbarungen. Statt der zugesagten Wiederherstellung der Situation vor den Kampfhandlungen in Südossetien und Abchasien erkannte Russland diese als selbstständige Staaten an, schloss militärische Verträge ab und baute dort neue Truppenstützpunkte und Militärflughäfen – entgegen internationaler Verträge und den Prinzipien des Völkerrechts. Weiterhin verhinderte Russland im Alleingang die Fortsetzung der UN-Mission in Georgien (UNOMIG) und der OSZE-Beobachtermission. So wird in den okkupierten georgischen Regionen Abchasien und Südossetien die georgische Bevölkerung weiterhin unbehelligt unterdrückt und vertrieben.
Deshalb rufen wir die internationale Politik und sie persönlich auf,
gegenüber Russland diplomatischen und politischen Druck auszuüben, damit
1. die Anerkennung von Südossetien und Abchasien sofort aufgehoben wird,
2. der europäischen Beobachtermission EUMM dort Zugang gewährt wird,
3. die OSZE- und UN-Mission in Georgien wieder aufgenommen werden kann,
4. die territoriale Integrität Georgiens auch durch Russland respektiert wird,
5. der Sechs-Punkte-Plan vom August 2008 vollständig von Russland eingehalten wird,
6. Premierminister Putin seine Zusagen im Interview vom 30.08.2008 einhält.
Sechs-Punkte-Plan als Waffenstillstandsabkommen, vermittelt durch den französischen Präsidenten Sarkozy zwischen Georgien und Russland, am 16.08. auch von Russland unterzeichnet:
1. Verzicht auf Gewaltanwendungen
2. Endgültige Einstellung aller Kampfhandlungen
3. Gewährleistung eines ungehinderten Zugangs zu humanitären Hilfsgütern
4. Rückkehr der georgischen Streitkräfte auf ihre ursprüngliche Position
5. Rückzug der russischen Streitkräfte auf jene Linien, hinter denen sie sich vor Beginn der Kampfhandlungen befunden haben. Die russischen Friedenstruppen sollen zusätzliche Sicherheitsmaßnahmen ergreifen, bis internationale Mechanismen vereinbart sind.
6. Aufnahme internationaler Gespräche über Modalitäten für die Sicherheit und Stabilität in Südossetien und Abchasien
Quelle: http://www.auswaertiges-amt.de/diplo/en/Laenderinformationen/Georgien/080815-Ratsschlussfolgerung.pdf
Interviewauszug: Im Gespräch mit dem Journalisten Thomas Roth sagte Russlands Premierminister Wladimir Putin in einer ARD-Sondersendung am 30.08.2008 unter anderem:
Roth: Wo sehen Sie die Aufgabe von Deutschland in dieser Krise?
Putin: Wir haben zu Deutschland sehr gute Beziehungen, vertrauensvolle Beziehungen, sowohl politische als auch ökonomische. Als wir mit Herrn Sarkozy gesprochen haben, bei seinem Besuch hier, haben wir gesagt, dass wir keinerlei Territorien in Georgien wollen. Wir werden uns in die Sicherheitszone zurückziehen, die in den früheren internationalen Abkommen vereinbart wurde. Aber da werden wir auch nicht ewig bleiben. Wir betrachten das als georgisches Territorium. Unsere Absicht besteht nur darin, die Sicherheit zu gewährleisten und es nicht so zu machen, dass da Truppen und Kriegsgerät heimlich geballt werden. Und zu verhindern, dass da die Möglichkeit eines neuen Konfliktes entsteht. Dann begrüßen wir die Teilnahme von Beobachtern der EU, der OSZE und natürlich auch Deutschlands. Wenn die Prinzipien der Zusammenarbeit geklärt sind.
Quelle: http://www.tagesschau.de/ausland/putin172.html
weitere Quellen:
Interview von Generalmajor Borisow in “Radio Echo Moskau”: http://www.echo.msk.ru/programs/voensovet/596473-echo/
Report on human rights issues following the August 2008 armed conflict, by Thomas Hammarberg, Commissioner for Human Rights of the Council of Europe - 8 to 12 February 2009
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Appell, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Georgia-Russia: Still Insecure and Dangerous
22.06.2009 | crisisgroup | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Tbilisi/Brussels, 22 June 2009: Russian diplomatic pressure is dismantling the critical international conflict resolution machinery in Georgia, leaving the region facing a potentially explosive situation in which even a small incident could spark new fighting.
Georgia-Russia: Still Insecure and Dangerous,* the latest policy briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation ten months after the August 2008 war and finds deep cause for concern. Moscow’s 15 June Security Council veto of an extension of the sixteen-year-old UN observer mission’s mandate in Georgia and Abkhazia and its apparent intention to require the removal of the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) by 30 June are blows to regional security that will fuel tensions.
“With both the UN and OSCE missions given the chop, there will be no independent observers around the conflict zones of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and there will be no mechanism for ensuring that minor incidents don’t deteriorate into wider fighting”, says Lawrence Sheets, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project Director. “Russia’s actions have created a hugely hazardous atmosphere. Moscow needs to review its policy and work for a reasonable compromise allowing the UN and OSCE monitors to continue their important work”.
The Georgia-Russia war ended with ceasefire agreements that required an end to military action, a pull-back to pre-war positions and access for humanitarian and monitoring missions to conflict areas. But Russia has not complied with key aspects of the deal that President Dimitri Medvedev reached in August/September 2008 with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his then-EU presidency role. The security situation on the ground today remains tense. Neither side has engaged in meaningful negotiations to stabilise the region.
Russia says it is acting at the request of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which do not trust international observers. But Moscow has legal obligations to do more for the security and safety of local populations, regardless of ethnicity, and to prevent human rights abuses in areas that are in effect under its control. Most importantly, it must expand efforts to allow the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially the approximately 25,000 ethnic Georgians who have been unable to go back to their homes in South Ossetia.
Russia not only keeps excessive troop levels in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in contravention of the ceasefire agreements, but has also increased their numbers and fortified bases to demarcate, in effect, the administrative borders between Georgia and the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which it has recognised as independent states. Its policy of preventing international monitors access to those areas undermines stability and conflict resolution efforts. It should use its dominant influence to allow monitors access, facilitate IDP return and encourage South Ossetia and Abkhazia to engage in genuine negotiations with Tbilisi.
“If the UN and OSCE missions do indeed leave Georgia, as Russia seems to desire, it will deepen regional tensions”, says Alain Deletroz, Crisis Group’s Vice President for Europe. “Rather than prompt further instability, Moscow should take a responsible approach that encourages internationally recognised institutions of conflict prevention and resolution to work freely on the ground. Another war and another IDP crisis in the Caucasus are not in anyone’s interest”.
To support our work in Europe and around the world, please click here.
*Read the full Crisis Group briefing on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org
Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
To contact Crisis Group media please click here
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
Tbilisi/Brussels, 22 June 2009: Russian diplomatic pressure is dismantling the critical international conflict resolution machinery in Georgia, leaving the region facing a potentially explosive situation in which even a small incident could spark new fighting.
Georgia-Russia: Still Insecure and Dangerous,* the latest policy briefing from the International Crisis Group, examines the situation ten months after the August 2008 war and finds deep cause for concern. Moscow’s 15 June Security Council veto of an extension of the sixteen-year-old UN observer mission’s mandate in Georgia and Abkhazia and its apparent intention to require the removal of the mission of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) by 30 June are blows to regional security that will fuel tensions.
“With both the UN and OSCE missions given the chop, there will be no independent observers around the conflict zones of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and there will be no mechanism for ensuring that minor incidents don’t deteriorate into wider fighting”, says Lawrence Sheets, Crisis Group’s Caucasus Project Director. “Russia’s actions have created a hugely hazardous atmosphere. Moscow needs to review its policy and work for a reasonable compromise allowing the UN and OSCE monitors to continue their important work”.
The Georgia-Russia war ended with ceasefire agreements that required an end to military action, a pull-back to pre-war positions and access for humanitarian and monitoring missions to conflict areas. But Russia has not complied with key aspects of the deal that President Dimitri Medvedev reached in August/September 2008 with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in his then-EU presidency role. The security situation on the ground today remains tense. Neither side has engaged in meaningful negotiations to stabilise the region.
Russia says it is acting at the request of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which do not trust international observers. But Moscow has legal obligations to do more for the security and safety of local populations, regardless of ethnicity, and to prevent human rights abuses in areas that are in effect under its control. Most importantly, it must expand efforts to allow the return of internally displaced persons (IDPs), especially the approximately 25,000 ethnic Georgians who have been unable to go back to their homes in South Ossetia.
Russia not only keeps excessive troop levels in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in contravention of the ceasefire agreements, but has also increased their numbers and fortified bases to demarcate, in effect, the administrative borders between Georgia and the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, both of which it has recognised as independent states. Its policy of preventing international monitors access to those areas undermines stability and conflict resolution efforts. It should use its dominant influence to allow monitors access, facilitate IDP return and encourage South Ossetia and Abkhazia to engage in genuine negotiations with Tbilisi.
“If the UN and OSCE missions do indeed leave Georgia, as Russia seems to desire, it will deepen regional tensions”, says Alain Deletroz, Crisis Group’s Vice President for Europe. “Rather than prompt further instability, Moscow should take a responsible approach that encourages internationally recognised institutions of conflict prevention and resolution to work freely on the ground. Another war and another IDP crisis in the Caucasus are not in anyone’s interest”.
To support our work in Europe and around the world, please click here.
*Read the full Crisis Group briefing on our website: http://www.crisisgroup.org
Contacts: Andrew Stroehlein (Brussels) +32 (0) 2 541 1635
Kimberly Abbott (Washington) +1 202 785 1601
To contact Crisis Group media please click here
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
EU agree position on Caucasus conflict
28.01.2009 | Auswärtiges Amt | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
The European Union is highly concerned at the Caucasus crisis. The Extraordinary EU Council called on the conflict parties to implement the six-point plan forthwith. Relations with Georgia are to be intensified, and an international conference for the entire country's reconstruction will be organized. In its relations with Russia the EU, while favouring cooperation, will at the same time remain vigilant.
Federal Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier welcomed the Council conclusions: "They clearly call on the two sides not to continue the spiral of escalation."
It was now important, he added, to begin reconstruction and get aid to the people in need. Moreover, he said, efforts to make the cease-fire permanent had to continue: "We need to work on the international monitoring mechanism." Finally, dialogue with Russia had to be maintained.
In Chancellor Angela Merkel's opinion the EU had sent a "signal of unity, of solidarity from Brussels". She underscored that the EU had "reached an outstanding compromise."
Clear message of support for Georgia
The EU decided to assist Georgia's reconstruction, also in South Ossetia and Abkhazia. It also held out the prospect of visa facilitation and the establishment of a "full and comprehensive free trade area".
An international conference on reconstruction in Georgia is to be convened shortly.
The EU summit also underlined Georgia's territorial integrity, strongly condemning Russia's recognition of the Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.
Implementing the peace plan
The EU heads of state and government reiterated their call for the full implementation of the six-point plan mediated by the French EU Presidency.
Even now EU Member States are making major contributions to the OSCE Mission to Georgia. However, the EU, too, will send an observer mission to the country to monitor the implementation of the peace plan. The details are to be decided by the EU foreign ministers when they meet in Brussels on 15 September. The EU also intends to appoint a "European Union Special Representative for the crisis in Georgia".
Continuing dialogue with Russia
Given the interdependence between the EU and Russia, the Council was in favour of a strong relationship with that country. This relationship had to be based on cooperation, trust and dialogue, respect for the rule of law and the principles recognized by the United Nations Charter and the OSCE.
At the same time the Conclusions speak of a "crossroads" due to the crisis in Georgia. The various aspects of EU-Russia relations will therefore now be examined.
To that end, the French EU Council President Nicolas Sarkozy, Commission President José Manuel Barroso and the EU High Representative for the CFSP, Javier Solana, will visit Moscow and Tbilisi on 8 September to continue discussions with Russia and Georgia "with a view to the full implementation of the six-point agreement". This was expressly welcomed by Minister Steinmeier.
The next rounds of talks on a Partnership Agreement between the EU and Russia will be postponed "until troops have withdrawn to the positions held prior to 7 August."
Last updated 01.09.2008
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
Appeal to the members of NATO - “NATO-membership for Georgia”
- NATO 60th Anniversary -
Appeal to the members of NATO - “NATO-membership for Georgia”
by the Georgian Diaspora community, 03.04.2009
NATO 60th Anniversary - Appeal to the members of NATO - NATO-membership for Georgia - englischer Aufruf 03.04.2009 als PDF-Datei - english appeal as PDF-file
The members of the Georgian Diaspora in Europe and the USA send their sincerest congratulations on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Alliance and express all the best wishes for a peaceful future.
Georgian people, even if they live far from their homeland, have strong feelings and emotions about the fate of their beloved and coveted Georgia. Perhaps because of the distance they are worrying even more on what happens there.
And Georgian people have reasons to worry. For 3000 years, conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians, and these peoples came again and again.
Now we appeal to give the independent and democratic states Georgia and Ukraine as quick as possible the MAP or even full NATO membership.
We appeal to continue to support the Georgian government and nation on the way to NATO. A repeat of 1921 – when Soviet Russia attacked and conquered the first democratic Georgian republic, because Georgia was abandoned by democratic Western states – must not happen again.
We strongly believe that NATO must integrate Georgia and Ukraine, because they belong to a complete European NATO community. Both have European Christian traditions and modern democratic state structures. By plebiscite in Georgia 77% of voters favoured Georgian membership of NATO. Only with their membership is a peaceful and stable future in Europe possible!
The NATO membership of Georgia as the central country and as the transit way for energy and goods in the Caucasus region is a guarantee for peace and stability in the whole Caucasus. For this purpose the territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected.
Energy security is also very important for NATO members in the future. Georgia as transit country to Europe from the Caspian and Persian region offers alternative routes beside Russia and reduces the already existing dependence on Russian energy net. Therefore security and stability in Georgia creates also security and stability in the whole Caucasus and Europe.
Good neighbourhood relations to the NATO member Turkey could be strengthened and Turkey in its geographical outstanding position would get more assistance and support.
In a certain way the situation of Georgia nowadays is comparable with the situation of West Germany in 1955. The incorporation of West Germany into the organization completed the NATO structure in front of the Soviet Union sphere. This act was directly executed without MAP, even in a tensed pre-war situation and protected Germany against Soviet aggression up to the present. And today is already the 230th day of Russia violating the “six-point peace plan” against Georgia and still occupying 20% of Georgian territory.
We want to commemorate You the history and situation of Georgia:
For 3000 years conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians and these peoples came again and again.
Georgia never started campaigns and wars to conquer land outside of traditional Georgian settlement areas or to oppress neighbours. The culture in Georgia was always high developed, Christian belief became already 327 state religion and the Silk Road through Georgia was connecting Europe with the Orient. Georgia was always a multi-cultural country and lived in peace with religious and ethnic minorities, which were integrated in the society and even state administration. For example Ossetian people came in middle age time as refugees, survived as ethnical group and could keep their language and traditions because of the tolerance of Georgian nation up to the present.
At last the growing Russian empire reached the Caucasus in the 18th century and managed 1801 the annexation of the weakened, for help against Turkey asking Georgia. But brave Georgians survived then the russification in the 19th century with the foundation of the “Democratic Republic of Georgia” in 1918, immediately recognized by Germany and the Ottoman Empire, 1920 by Soviet Union, 1921 by the League of Nations. This, however, did not prevent the country from being attacked by Soviet Russia one month later. The sovietisation started then, because democratic Western states were not ready to recognize the consequences for the future. The elected government of Georgia went into exile in France, about 50,000 Georgians were executed and killed in 1921-1924, more than 150,000 were purged in 1935-1938.
In the time of perestroika freedom-loving Georgian people were the first, who started with demonstrations for freedom and independence in 1989. They could realize this at last in 1991, following examples of European democratic states. This transition got immediately undermined by the Russian influence, which reinstalled the old soviet nomenklatura, using for this also the ethnical conflict zones. The Rose Revolution in 2003 brought to power young politicians, who were educated in Western countries and started a new policy against corruption and for economical development inside the country. In foreign policy Georgia chose the way to EU and NATO, supported by US and European organisations and politicians. Because Russia by itself didn’t go this way to modern democratic structures and tolerant behaviour to his neighbours, at 2008 the Russian government finalized the plans from the past against Georgia and occupied with its military superiority, what they wanted to possess by themselves, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The other aim, to unseat president Saakashvili, was interrupted by diplomatic international interventions. By the way they damaged the Georgian infrastructure, the reputation of the Georgian government and the hope of a peaceful future in the Caucasus and Europe.
Georgian diaspora recognizes a “dual strategy” of Russian foreign policy:
bargaining, but then realizing and taking, what only they want, ignoring agreements !
The policy of the Russian government still doesn’t respect the free decisions of other nations about their future. This can’t be the political order of the 21th century.
Russian parliament passed an 25% increase of military spending and the government introduced an aggressive style of rhetoric, far away from peaceful cooperation and fair dialogue between nations.
The unilateral recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the support of the de facto regimes with military equipment shows, that Russia continues heating up the ethnic conflicts and the separatism in Georgia. Additionally Russia started to build military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and signed agreements about military cooperation and protection.
Russia still doesn’t abide by the “six-point peace plan”, signed in August 2008 by Russian President Medvedev, French President Sarkozy and Georgian President Saakashvili.
( Georgia asked for the additions in parentheses, but Russia rejected them. )
1. No recourse to the use of force.
2. Definitive cessation of hostilities.
3. Free access to humanitarian aid (addition rejected: and to allow the return of refugees).
4. The Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions.
5. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed prior to the beginning of hostilities. Prior to the establishment of international mechanisms the Russian peacekeeping forces will take additional security measures. (addition rejected: six months)
6. An international debate on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways to ensure their lasting security will take place. (addition rejected: based on the decisions of the UN and the OSCE)
by Russian side broken treaties and agreements against Georgia in the past:
1783 Friendship “Treaty of Georgievsk” with Russia, but: no military help against a Persian attack and later annexation in spite of the guaranteed sovereignty!
1920 “Moscow Peace Treaty” with the recognition of Georgia by Soviet Union under the condition, that Georgia should be neutral. Therefore British troops left Georgia and shortly afterwards in 1921 the Red army attacked unprotected Georgia.
1989 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“, which guaranteed the „inviolability of persons“, but on a demonstration in Tbilisi Russian special units killed 22 Georgian citizens.
1991 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“ didn’t allow Russian military help for the Ossetian separatists. In 1990 no formal intervention against Ossetian independence declaration!
1992 Armistice in Abkhazia and 1993 peace treaty in Abkhazia, but both times instead no peacekeeping, military help for separatists and offensive with genocide of Georgians.
We want to remember You to statements and opinions out of the past to Georgia:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
“Georgia will be, if it wants, and it wants, member of the NATO”, Angela Merkel said in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Sunday directly after her meeting with the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. “The situation did not change for me at this point.”
(Welt, 17.07.2008)
Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“And you know, I don’t mean to sound at all cavalier about it, but there was one huge territorial dispute at the inception of NATO. It was called East Germany. And we did not prevent, therefore, West Germany for – from being a founding – for coming into NATO. And ultimately, it was in NATO that Germany not only overcame its division, but overcame its very difficult history with its neighbours through a democratic peace. And we need to remember that history, when we talk about territorial problems for Georgia.”
(Warsaw, Poland, August 20, 2008)
Estonian President Toomas Ilves
“It is highly regrettable, that the NATO couldn´t agree on, to offer these two countries (Georgia and Ukraine) the membership of the Access Programm (MAP). Obviously this was interpreted by Russia, that these countries remain in their area of influence.”
(FAZ, 13.08.08)
Russian President Dmitrij Medwedjew
“NATO provoked the Caucasus conflict.”
(SZ, 19.09.2008)
Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“The conflict in Georgia, thus, has deep roots. And clearly, all sides made mistakes and miscalculations. But several key facts are clear: On August 7th, following repeated violations of the ceasefire in South Ossetia, including the shelling of Georgian villages, the Georgian government launched a major military operation into Tskhinvali and other areas of the separatist region. ... But the situation deteriorated further when Russia’s leaders violated Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – and launched a full scale invasion across an internationally-recognized border. … What is more disturbing about Russia’s actions is that they fit into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years now.“
“Russia’s invasion of Georgia has achieved – and will achieve – no enduring strategic objective. And our strategic goal now is to make clear to Russia’s leaders that their choices could put Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance.”
“We cannot afford to validate the prejudices that some Russian leaders seem to have: that if you press free nations hard enough – if you bully them, and you threaten them, and you lash out – they will cave in, and they’ll forget, and eventually they will concede.”
(Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC, September 18, 2008)
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Appell, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Appeal to the members of NATO - “NATO-membership for Georgia”
by the Georgian Diaspora community, 03.04.2009
NATO 60th Anniversary - Appeal to the members of NATO - NATO-membership for Georgia - englischer Aufruf 03.04.2009 als PDF-Datei - english appeal as PDF-file
The members of the Georgian Diaspora in Europe and the USA send their sincerest congratulations on the occasion of the 60th Anniversary of the Alliance and express all the best wishes for a peaceful future.
Georgian people, even if they live far from their homeland, have strong feelings and emotions about the fate of their beloved and coveted Georgia. Perhaps because of the distance they are worrying even more on what happens there.
And Georgian people have reasons to worry. For 3000 years, conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians, and these peoples came again and again.
Now we appeal to give the independent and democratic states Georgia and Ukraine as quick as possible the MAP or even full NATO membership.
We appeal to continue to support the Georgian government and nation on the way to NATO. A repeat of 1921 – when Soviet Russia attacked and conquered the first democratic Georgian republic, because Georgia was abandoned by democratic Western states – must not happen again.
We strongly believe that NATO must integrate Georgia and Ukraine, because they belong to a complete European NATO community. Both have European Christian traditions and modern democratic state structures. By plebiscite in Georgia 77% of voters favoured Georgian membership of NATO. Only with their membership is a peaceful and stable future in Europe possible!
The NATO membership of Georgia as the central country and as the transit way for energy and goods in the Caucasus region is a guarantee for peace and stability in the whole Caucasus. For this purpose the territorial integrity of Georgia must be respected.
Energy security is also very important for NATO members in the future. Georgia as transit country to Europe from the Caspian and Persian region offers alternative routes beside Russia and reduces the already existing dependence on Russian energy net. Therefore security and stability in Georgia creates also security and stability in the whole Caucasus and Europe.
Good neighbourhood relations to the NATO member Turkey could be strengthened and Turkey in its geographical outstanding position would get more assistance and support.
In a certain way the situation of Georgia nowadays is comparable with the situation of West Germany in 1955. The incorporation of West Germany into the organization completed the NATO structure in front of the Soviet Union sphere. This act was directly executed without MAP, even in a tensed pre-war situation and protected Germany against Soviet aggression up to the present. And today is already the 230th day of Russia violating the “six-point peace plan” against Georgia and still occupying 20% of Georgian territory.
We want to commemorate You the history and situation of Georgia:
For 3000 years conquerors from every direction have coveted this wonderful land. The small Georgian states had to defend their independence against grand peoples like the Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs, Seljuks, Turks, Mongolians, Russians and these peoples came again and again.
Georgia never started campaigns and wars to conquer land outside of traditional Georgian settlement areas or to oppress neighbours. The culture in Georgia was always high developed, Christian belief became already 327 state religion and the Silk Road through Georgia was connecting Europe with the Orient. Georgia was always a multi-cultural country and lived in peace with religious and ethnic minorities, which were integrated in the society and even state administration. For example Ossetian people came in middle age time as refugees, survived as ethnical group and could keep their language and traditions because of the tolerance of Georgian nation up to the present.
At last the growing Russian empire reached the Caucasus in the 18th century and managed 1801 the annexation of the weakened, for help against Turkey asking Georgia. But brave Georgians survived then the russification in the 19th century with the foundation of the “Democratic Republic of Georgia” in 1918, immediately recognized by Germany and the Ottoman Empire, 1920 by Soviet Union, 1921 by the League of Nations. This, however, did not prevent the country from being attacked by Soviet Russia one month later. The sovietisation started then, because democratic Western states were not ready to recognize the consequences for the future. The elected government of Georgia went into exile in France, about 50,000 Georgians were executed and killed in 1921-1924, more than 150,000 were purged in 1935-1938.
In the time of perestroika freedom-loving Georgian people were the first, who started with demonstrations for freedom and independence in 1989. They could realize this at last in 1991, following examples of European democratic states. This transition got immediately undermined by the Russian influence, which reinstalled the old soviet nomenklatura, using for this also the ethnical conflict zones. The Rose Revolution in 2003 brought to power young politicians, who were educated in Western countries and started a new policy against corruption and for economical development inside the country. In foreign policy Georgia chose the way to EU and NATO, supported by US and European organisations and politicians. Because Russia by itself didn’t go this way to modern democratic structures and tolerant behaviour to his neighbours, at 2008 the Russian government finalized the plans from the past against Georgia and occupied with its military superiority, what they wanted to possess by themselves, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The other aim, to unseat president Saakashvili, was interrupted by diplomatic international interventions. By the way they damaged the Georgian infrastructure, the reputation of the Georgian government and the hope of a peaceful future in the Caucasus and Europe.
Georgian diaspora recognizes a “dual strategy” of Russian foreign policy:
bargaining, but then realizing and taking, what only they want, ignoring agreements !
The policy of the Russian government still doesn’t respect the free decisions of other nations about their future. This can’t be the political order of the 21th century.
Russian parliament passed an 25% increase of military spending and the government introduced an aggressive style of rhetoric, far away from peaceful cooperation and fair dialogue between nations.
The unilateral recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and the support of the de facto regimes with military equipment shows, that Russia continues heating up the ethnic conflicts and the separatism in Georgia. Additionally Russia started to build military bases in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and signed agreements about military cooperation and protection.
Russia still doesn’t abide by the “six-point peace plan”, signed in August 2008 by Russian President Medvedev, French President Sarkozy and Georgian President Saakashvili.
( Georgia asked for the additions in parentheses, but Russia rejected them. )
1. No recourse to the use of force.
2. Definitive cessation of hostilities.
3. Free access to humanitarian aid (addition rejected: and to allow the return of refugees).
4. The Armed Forces of Georgia must withdraw to their permanent positions.
5. The Armed Forces of the Russian Federation must withdraw to the line where they were stationed prior to the beginning of hostilities. Prior to the establishment of international mechanisms the Russian peacekeeping forces will take additional security measures. (addition rejected: six months)
6. An international debate on the future status of South Ossetia and Abkhazia and ways to ensure their lasting security will take place. (addition rejected: based on the decisions of the UN and the OSCE)
by Russian side broken treaties and agreements against Georgia in the past:
1783 Friendship “Treaty of Georgievsk” with Russia, but: no military help against a Persian attack and later annexation in spite of the guaranteed sovereignty!
1920 “Moscow Peace Treaty” with the recognition of Georgia by Soviet Union under the condition, that Georgia should be neutral. Therefore British troops left Georgia and shortly afterwards in 1921 the Red army attacked unprotected Georgia.
1989 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“, which guaranteed the „inviolability of persons“, but on a demonstration in Tbilisi Russian special units killed 22 Georgian citizens.
1991 „Constitution of the Soviet Union“ didn’t allow Russian military help for the Ossetian separatists. In 1990 no formal intervention against Ossetian independence declaration!
1992 Armistice in Abkhazia and 1993 peace treaty in Abkhazia, but both times instead no peacekeeping, military help for separatists and offensive with genocide of Georgians.
We want to remember You to statements and opinions out of the past to Georgia:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel
“Georgia will be, if it wants, and it wants, member of the NATO”, Angela Merkel said in the Georgian capital Tbilisi on Sunday directly after her meeting with the Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili. “The situation did not change for me at this point.”
(Welt, 17.07.2008)
Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“And you know, I don’t mean to sound at all cavalier about it, but there was one huge territorial dispute at the inception of NATO. It was called East Germany. And we did not prevent, therefore, West Germany for – from being a founding – for coming into NATO. And ultimately, it was in NATO that Germany not only overcame its division, but overcame its very difficult history with its neighbours through a democratic peace. And we need to remember that history, when we talk about territorial problems for Georgia.”
(Warsaw, Poland, August 20, 2008)
Estonian President Toomas Ilves
“It is highly regrettable, that the NATO couldn´t agree on, to offer these two countries (Georgia and Ukraine) the membership of the Access Programm (MAP). Obviously this was interpreted by Russia, that these countries remain in their area of influence.”
(FAZ, 13.08.08)
Russian President Dmitrij Medwedjew
“NATO provoked the Caucasus conflict.”
(SZ, 19.09.2008)
Former US-Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
“The conflict in Georgia, thus, has deep roots. And clearly, all sides made mistakes and miscalculations. But several key facts are clear: On August 7th, following repeated violations of the ceasefire in South Ossetia, including the shelling of Georgian villages, the Georgian government launched a major military operation into Tskhinvali and other areas of the separatist region. ... But the situation deteriorated further when Russia’s leaders violated Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity – and launched a full scale invasion across an internationally-recognized border. … What is more disturbing about Russia’s actions is that they fit into a worsening pattern of behavior over several years now.“
“Russia’s invasion of Georgia has achieved – and will achieve – no enduring strategic objective. And our strategic goal now is to make clear to Russia’s leaders that their choices could put Russia on a one-way path to self-imposed isolation and international irrelevance.”
“We cannot afford to validate the prejudices that some Russian leaders seem to have: that if you press free nations hard enough – if you bully them, and you threaten them, and you lash out – they will cave in, and they’ll forget, and eventually they will concede.”
(Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, Washington, DC, September 18, 2008)
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Appell, Sprache: deutsch, englisch, Archiv: #
Präsident Saakashvili's Rede vor dem Europaparlament in Straßburg
23.11.2010 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the European Parliament,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am humbled by the immense honor that your invitation signifies for my country and I would like to thank the Presidency of the Parliament and all the political groups for this opportunity.
I came here to deliver a message of hope and to make a solemn pledge.
I came here to affirm that peace-a just and lasting peace-is possible in my region, and that we need Europe to contribute to it.
For centuries, the Caucasian mountains have been a geopolitical mystery, a beguiling paradox-a region where individuals and souls were free, but where citizens were oppressed; where cultures were tolerant, but where governments created artificial divisions; where people never ceased to feel deeply Europeans, but where walls erected by Empires turned Europe into a faraway mirage, where men and women were striving for peace, but where wars seemed unavoidable.
I came here to tell you that we must put an end to these times, that cooperation must replace rivalry, that negotiation must prevail over the rhetoric of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, in all the troubled corners of our world, the European Parliament is a symbol of hope-the striking proof that even the cruelest of conflicts can be overcome and that peace is worth any political risk.
This very place would not exist if-in the middle of ruins, surrounded by death and legitimate claims for revenge-brave leaders did not choose to end centuries of wars by launching the most ambitious and fascinating political experiment of our time: European unification.
This Parliament-divided not by nationality, but into political groups-fulfils the vision so eloquently expressed by Victor Hugo at the 1849 International Congress of Peace in Paris.
Allow me to quote this visionary poet in his own language:
"Un jour viendra où vous toutes, nations du continent, sans perdre vos qualités distinctes et votre glorieuse individualité, vous vous fondrez étroitement dans une unité supérieure, et vous constituerez la fraternité européenne. Un jour viendra où il n'y aura plus d'autres champs de bataille que les marchés s'ouvrant au commerce et les esprits s'ouvrant aux idées. Un jour viendra où les boulets et les bombes seront remplacés par les votes, par le suffrage universel des peuples, par le vénérable arbitrage d'un grand Sénat Souverain qui sera à l'Europe ce que le Parlement est à l'Angleterre, ce que la Diète est à l'Allemagne, ce que l'Assemblée législative est à la France!"
Most of Hugo's contemporaries thought he was an infantile dreamer when he pronounced this speech and it took more than 100 years and 2 world wars for History to hear his voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is high time for Hugo's voice to be echoed and heard in my region as well.
It is high time for this voice of brotherhood to overcome the sounds of canons and the calls for hatred.
It is high time for the European peace to be extended to the Caucasus.
And it is our responsibility, as political leaders, to conceive bold initiatives in order to make this happen.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Exactly 7 years ago, the Rose Revolution initiated the new journey towards the European family of an old European nation, my beloved Georgia.
On November 23rd 2003, hundreds of thousands of citizens-of all regional, religious, and social backgrounds-peacefully took over the streets and the Parliament.
They did more than overthrow a corrupt, backward-looking regime: they triggered what The Economist of London called some weeks ago a "mental revolution."
As some of you know it well in this Assembly, there has been two ways of getting out from communist regimes after the liberating collapse of USSR: the European one and the nationalistic one, the rule of law and the rule of fear. To sum up: Vaclav Havel or Slobodan Milosevic.
Once the tyranny of the Party was over, the divisions, the corruption, the verticality, the bureaucracy, the cynicism and the authoritarianism that were the pillars of the Soviet society remained.
7 years ago, Ladies and gentlemen, Georgia was formally an independent State but Georgia was still part of this world of fears and hatreds.
The borders of the soviet mentality were not abolished yet and Soviet Union was still existing in the minds and the souls.
Only a "mental revolution" could lead to a European transformation of our societies.
This is the message that we, Georgians, brought to this region. This is the message that unleashed so much anger towards us among the nostalgics of the Empire.
But this is the message that turned Georgia into a laboratory of reforms for our region.
When we led the Rose Revolution, we were members of student organizations, opposition parties, civil society groups-all united by a single dream: to turn a dysfunctional post-Soviet country crippled by corruption and crime into a European democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, Soviet Union was based on one principle: divide to rule.
People were artificially opposed to each others, at every level of the society, in every field.
In every Republic, the different religious, social, ethnic groups were put in constant rivalry and politics was understood as an art of manipulation of fears and hatreds.
This explains why former communists leaders turned so easily into nationalists, in the Balkans as well as in the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe as well as in Russia.
7 years ago, Georgia was still divided into isolated communities fearing each other and some extremists were using the weakness of the State to reject minorities.
Our first task was therefore to embrace multiculturalism and differences.
We have developed an affirmative action program - in all spheres, from higher education to law enforcement bodies.
Soviet Union had another caracteristic: an absolute centralization.
7 years ago, Georgia was still all about its capital and we initiated a vast decentralization program, heavily invested in regional infrastructures and spectacularly empowered local authorities.
As a result, regions that were once abandoned became the most striking examples of our development.
Until the Rose Revolution, all key regional principles were appointed by the President. So - while others were restoring the famous "vertical of power", canceling the autonomy of all regions - we systematically transferred powers to regional elected bodies.
This policy recently lead to the first direct election of the mayor of Tbilisi last May and in the decision to move the Constitutional Court to the city of Batumi and the Parliament to the city of Kutaisi.
Soviet Union was all about control and corruption, an overweight and inefficient State.
Our first step was therefore to dissolve the KGB, fire the entire police forces, as well as customs officers and tax agents, but also to open up our economy and our educational system.
The vision that guided all these steps was captured by a single symbol: besides every Georgian flag, in every official building, we installed a European flag.
We did this to show where we were aiming to take Georgia with our reforms.
Of course, our peaceful revolution has had its share of failures and shortcomings.
Of course, we have made mistakes.
But, as the great inventor of "European cosmopolitism" and one of my favorite philosophers- Emmanuel Kant-wrote about the French revolution: "You cannot be ready to be free until you are free."
What Emmanuel Kant meant, Ladies and gentlemen, is that no book can teach you in advance how to govern or even behave in freedom. You can only learn this from your own successes and failures.
We have had failures and we have learnt from them, but we have also had surprising successes.
Georgia has just been singled out by the World Bank as the number 1 economic reformer in the world over the last 5 years, and now ranks 12th place in the world for the ease of doing business, number one in Eastern and Central Europe.
Once the epicenter of the post-Soviet mafia, Georgia has made more progress against corruption than any other country in the world from 2004 to 2009, according to Transparency International.
I value these rankings only because they reflect and reveal the social and moral transformation that happened in my country, the "mental revolution" to which I referred earlier.
Georgian citizens have stopped thinking of their country as a post-Soviet state. They see it, judge it, and often criticize it as a European democracy.
Such change goes far beyond the leaders and parties that led the Rose Revolution. It is something that nobody owns and nobody can suppress, neither us nor anybody else. Such revolution leads to this amazing fact in our part of the world, the fact that Institutions are systematically more popular than any political figure.
There is a great deal more to do, obviously, and we are more committed than ever to pursuing our path of reforms.
We are aware than democracy is always a work in progress.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our alternative democratic model was not welcome by everyone, of course.
It met fierce opposition among those revisionist forces who still perceive the fall of the USSR as the "worst catastrophe of the 20th century."
They imposed a full-scale embargo on my nation in 2006, deported our citizens, repeatedly bombed our territory, and finally invaded in 2008.
As I speak, these forces still occupy 20% of Georgian territory, in blatant violation of international law and of the August 12th cease-fire agreement brokered thanks to the efforts of my good friend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was acting then as President of the European Union.
As I speak, Georgia still counts up to 500,000 IDP's and refugees who cannot return home because some people animated by an old imperialist mentality decided to welcome the 21st century by organizing ethnic cleansing campaigns and building a new Berlin Wall in my country.
How did we respond to these aggressions?
We fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without even once using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last August, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Hansjörg Haber, publicly praised Georgian restraint and our engagement strategy as "constructive unilateralism".
When tanks and missiles are standing at 50 kilometers of a capital, governments usually play the card of the besieged nation, proclaim that freedom is a luxury they cannot afford and start to crackdown their opposition and close their society.
We did exactly the contrary.
We are, Ladies and gentlemen, building a democracy at a gunpoint.
In front of the Iron Curtain than the occupation forces have built around the region of Abkhazia, in the small seaside town of Anaklia, a new tourism resort is being built as we speak, with beautiful hotels and sand beaches.
Some suggest that we should stop and wait until the situation is resolved and only then start building when the ground is less shaky.
Our philosophy is the complete opposite - we are constructing buildings not because they are on a strong ground but because building them will eventually make the ground stronger.
In Anaklia, a new phase of development started in 2005 after the place had been destroyed by the conflict already twice, in 1993 and 1998.
In 2008, it once again witnessed total destruction.
And few weeks after, the constructions started again.
A great poet and a famous Russian dissident, Alexander Galich, one of these 8 heroes that demonstrated on the Red Square in 68 against the invasion of Prague, wrote about Georgia:
"Прекрасная и гордая страна! / Ты отвечаешь шуткой на злословье."
Translation: "Splendid and proud country / You respond to mud-slinging by a smile"
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the European Parliament,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am humbled by the immense honor that your invitation signifies for my country and I would like to thank the Presidency of the Parliament and all the political groups for this opportunity.
I came here to deliver a message of hope and to make a solemn pledge.
I came here to affirm that peace-a just and lasting peace-is possible in my region, and that we need Europe to contribute to it.
For centuries, the Caucasian mountains have been a geopolitical mystery, a beguiling paradox-a region where individuals and souls were free, but where citizens were oppressed; where cultures were tolerant, but where governments created artificial divisions; where people never ceased to feel deeply Europeans, but where walls erected by Empires turned Europe into a faraway mirage, where men and women were striving for peace, but where wars seemed unavoidable.
I came here to tell you that we must put an end to these times, that cooperation must replace rivalry, that negotiation must prevail over the rhetoric of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, in all the troubled corners of our world, the European Parliament is a symbol of hope-the striking proof that even the cruelest of conflicts can be overcome and that peace is worth any political risk.
This very place would not exist if-in the middle of ruins, surrounded by death and legitimate claims for revenge-brave leaders did not choose to end centuries of wars by launching the most ambitious and fascinating political experiment of our time: European unification.
This Parliament-divided not by nationality, but into political groups-fulfils the vision so eloquently expressed by Victor Hugo at the 1849 International Congress of Peace in Paris.
Allow me to quote this visionary poet in his own language:
"Un jour viendra où vous toutes, nations du continent, sans perdre vos qualités distinctes et votre glorieuse individualité, vous vous fondrez étroitement dans une unité supérieure, et vous constituerez la fraternité européenne. Un jour viendra où il n'y aura plus d'autres champs de bataille que les marchés s'ouvrant au commerce et les esprits s'ouvrant aux idées. Un jour viendra où les boulets et les bombes seront remplacés par les votes, par le suffrage universel des peuples, par le vénérable arbitrage d'un grand Sénat Souverain qui sera à l'Europe ce que le Parlement est à l'Angleterre, ce que la Diète est à l'Allemagne, ce que l'Assemblée législative est à la France!"
Most of Hugo's contemporaries thought he was an infantile dreamer when he pronounced this speech and it took more than 100 years and 2 world wars for History to hear his voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is high time for Hugo's voice to be echoed and heard in my region as well.
It is high time for this voice of brotherhood to overcome the sounds of canons and the calls for hatred.
It is high time for the European peace to be extended to the Caucasus.
And it is our responsibility, as political leaders, to conceive bold initiatives in order to make this happen.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Exactly 7 years ago, the Rose Revolution initiated the new journey towards the European family of an old European nation, my beloved Georgia.
On November 23rd 2003, hundreds of thousands of citizens-of all regional, religious, and social backgrounds-peacefully took over the streets and the Parliament.
They did more than overthrow a corrupt, backward-looking regime: they triggered what The Economist of London called some weeks ago a "mental revolution."
As some of you know it well in this Assembly, there has been two ways of getting out from communist regimes after the liberating collapse of USSR: the European one and the nationalistic one, the rule of law and the rule of fear. To sum up: Vaclav Havel or Slobodan Milosevic.
Once the tyranny of the Party was over, the divisions, the corruption, the verticality, the bureaucracy, the cynicism and the authoritarianism that were the pillars of the Soviet society remained.
7 years ago, Ladies and gentlemen, Georgia was formally an independent State but Georgia was still part of this world of fears and hatreds.
The borders of the soviet mentality were not abolished yet and Soviet Union was still existing in the minds and the souls.
Only a "mental revolution" could lead to a European transformation of our societies.
This is the message that we, Georgians, brought to this region. This is the message that unleashed so much anger towards us among the nostalgics of the Empire.
But this is the message that turned Georgia into a laboratory of reforms for our region.
When we led the Rose Revolution, we were members of student organizations, opposition parties, civil society groups-all united by a single dream: to turn a dysfunctional post-Soviet country crippled by corruption and crime into a European democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, Soviet Union was based on one principle: divide to rule.
People were artificially opposed to each others, at every level of the society, in every field.
In every Republic, the different religious, social, ethnic groups were put in constant rivalry and politics was understood as an art of manipulation of fears and hatreds.
This explains why former communists leaders turned so easily into nationalists, in the Balkans as well as in the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe as well as in Russia.
7 years ago, Georgia was still divided into isolated communities fearing each other and some extremists were using the weakness of the State to reject minorities.
Our first task was therefore to embrace multiculturalism and differences.
We have developed an affirmative action program - in all spheres, from higher education to law enforcement bodies.
Soviet Union had another caracteristic: an absolute centralization.
7 years ago, Georgia was still all about its capital and we initiated a vast decentralization program, heavily invested in regional infrastructures and spectacularly empowered local authorities.
As a result, regions that were once abandoned became the most striking examples of our development.
Until the Rose Revolution, all key regional principles were appointed by the President. So - while others were restoring the famous "vertical of power", canceling the autonomy of all regions - we systematically transferred powers to regional elected bodies.
This policy recently lead to the first direct election of the mayor of Tbilisi last May and in the decision to move the Constitutional Court to the city of Batumi and the Parliament to the city of Kutaisi.
Soviet Union was all about control and corruption, an overweight and inefficient State.
Our first step was therefore to dissolve the KGB, fire the entire police forces, as well as customs officers and tax agents, but also to open up our economy and our educational system.
The vision that guided all these steps was captured by a single symbol: besides every Georgian flag, in every official building, we installed a European flag.
We did this to show where we were aiming to take Georgia with our reforms.
Of course, our peaceful revolution has had its share of failures and shortcomings.
Of course, we have made mistakes.
But, as the great inventor of "European cosmopolitism" and one of my favorite philosophers- Emmanuel Kant-wrote about the French revolution: "You cannot be ready to be free until you are free."
What Emmanuel Kant meant, Ladies and gentlemen, is that no book can teach you in advance how to govern or even behave in freedom. You can only learn this from your own successes and failures.
We have had failures and we have learnt from them, but we have also had surprising successes.
Georgia has just been singled out by the World Bank as the number 1 economic reformer in the world over the last 5 years, and now ranks 12th place in the world for the ease of doing business, number one in Eastern and Central Europe.
Once the epicenter of the post-Soviet mafia, Georgia has made more progress against corruption than any other country in the world from 2004 to 2009, according to Transparency International.
I value these rankings only because they reflect and reveal the social and moral transformation that happened in my country, the "mental revolution" to which I referred earlier.
Georgian citizens have stopped thinking of their country as a post-Soviet state. They see it, judge it, and often criticize it as a European democracy.
Such change goes far beyond the leaders and parties that led the Rose Revolution. It is something that nobody owns and nobody can suppress, neither us nor anybody else. Such revolution leads to this amazing fact in our part of the world, the fact that Institutions are systematically more popular than any political figure.
There is a great deal more to do, obviously, and we are more committed than ever to pursuing our path of reforms.
We are aware than democracy is always a work in progress.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our alternative democratic model was not welcome by everyone, of course.
It met fierce opposition among those revisionist forces who still perceive the fall of the USSR as the "worst catastrophe of the 20th century."
They imposed a full-scale embargo on my nation in 2006, deported our citizens, repeatedly bombed our territory, and finally invaded in 2008.
As I speak, these forces still occupy 20% of Georgian territory, in blatant violation of international law and of the August 12th cease-fire agreement brokered thanks to the efforts of my good friend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was acting then as President of the European Union.
As I speak, Georgia still counts up to 500,000 IDP's and refugees who cannot return home because some people animated by an old imperialist mentality decided to welcome the 21st century by organizing ethnic cleansing campaigns and building a new Berlin Wall in my country.
How did we respond to these aggressions?
We fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without even once using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last August, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Hansjörg Haber, publicly praised Georgian restraint and our engagement strategy as "constructive unilateralism".
When tanks and missiles are standing at 50 kilometers of a capital, governments usually play the card of the besieged nation, proclaim that freedom is a luxury they cannot afford and start to crackdown their opposition and close their society.
We did exactly the contrary.
We are, Ladies and gentlemen, building a democracy at a gunpoint.
In front of the Iron Curtain than the occupation forces have built around the region of Abkhazia, in the small seaside town of Anaklia, a new tourism resort is being built as we speak, with beautiful hotels and sand beaches.
Some suggest that we should stop and wait until the situation is resolved and only then start building when the ground is less shaky.
Our philosophy is the complete opposite - we are constructing buildings not because they are on a strong ground but because building them will eventually make the ground stronger.
In Anaklia, a new phase of development started in 2005 after the place had been destroyed by the conflict already twice, in 1993 and 1998.
In 2008, it once again witnessed total destruction.
And few weeks after, the constructions started again.
A great poet and a famous Russian dissident, Alexander Galich, one of these 8 heroes that demonstrated on the Red Square in 68 against the invasion of Prague, wrote about Georgia:
"Прекрасная и гордая страна! / Ты отвечаешь шуткой на злословье."
Translation: "Splendid and proud country / You respond to mud-slinging by a smile"
Last time I visited Anaklia I saw a row of discotheques as lively as you can see anywhere in Europe, where young people danced just like they would do in Ibiza or Saint-Tropez.
The only difference was that after the last disco on the beech there is a wall that the occupying army has erected.
Let me ask you: what is more absurd than a New Berlin Wall on a sandy beech?
Ladies and gentlemen,
In short, we understand that peace is in our supreme interest and we are convinced there is no alternative to peace.
By jeopardizing peace, we would place at risk everything we have achieved and everything we want to achieve in the coming years.
And so I came here to announce a new step in our policy of constructive unilateralism.
I am here to take an initiative that, I hope and with your help, will defuse the tensions and allow serious negotiations to start.
Before coming, I reflected a lot and also consulted with our European and American allies.
The Georgian government already considers itself bound by the August 12th ceasefire agreement and has always understood that this ceasefire clearly prohibits the use of force.
But-in order to prove that Georgia is definitively committed to a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Russian Federation-we take today the unilateral initiative to declare that Georgia will never use force to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty, that it will only resort to peaceful means in its quest for de-occupation and reunification.
Even if the Russian Federation refuses to withdraw its occupation forces, even if its proxy militias multiply their human rights violations, Georgia will only retain the right to self-defense in the case of new attacks and invasion of the 80% of the Georgian territory that remains under control of the Georgian government.
I will address the relevant letters to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the OSCE, and the leadership of the European Union, stating clearly that we commit ourselves not to use force in order to reunite our illegally divided country, neither against the occupation forces, nor against their proxies, even though the UN Charter could allow us to do so.
My pledge here, in front of you, constitutes a unilateral declaration of a state under international law.
This initiative, Ladies and gentlemen, is far from an easy one for a country that is partially occupied and that counts 500 000 IDPs and refugees.
It continues and expands our policy of "constructive unilateralism."
I am, ladies and gentlemen, ready for a deep and comprehensive dialogue with my Russian counterpart.
We will of course continue to participate in the Geneva talks, hoping that our pledge today will persuade the Russian Federation to stop blocking these discussions.
But we need the political dialogue to start as well.
And for this to occur, the international community must make clear to the Russian leaders that the situation today is totally irregular and unsustainable.
In order to push them to discuss a compromise, its is essential to clearly state the reality of the situation on the ground.
This is why we are asking that the Russian military buildup within the international borders of Georgia be qualified as an illegal occupation of a sovereign territory. Many European nations, as well as the United States, already have done so.
Equally, the brutal campaigns that have expelled hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens from the occupied territories should be qualified as illegal acts of ethnic cleansing.
If we fail to denounce this ethnic cleansing, why would the occupiers ever even consider allowing them to return to their homes and villages?
Ladies and gentlemen, if the first victim of war is always the truth, the truth is always the most solid foundation of peace.
Our constructive unilateralism and the pledge I have just made will not have the expected impact if our European friends do not speak out the truth-if you do not speak out the truth."
I came here today, humbly, to tell you that we depend on you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our region has known too many wars in recent History. It is time, to paraphrase Hugo once again, to replace canons with roundtables.
Our region has had its own Warsaw, its own Coventry, its own Oradour-Sur-Glane, and it is time to build on our common rejection of war and destruction.
It is time to say that we must never have another Grozny- a regional capital of 400 000 inhabitants that has been totally wiped out from the surface of the globe.
It is time to say that we must never see again people expelled from their homes or deported on the basis of their nationality, their faith or their origins, as it happened in my own country as well as in other countries of the region.
I am ready to work with the Russian leadership so that this does not happen ever again, so that the consequences of war are reversed and the conditions for peace are established.
Walls like the one dividing Georgia will not be brought down by bombs, but by the commitment of citizens to build a free, united country-and by the commitment of the world community to enforce international law.
It is noticeable that, despite enormous pressure and multiple threats from Moscow, not a single former Soviet republic has recognized the dismemberment of Georgia.
It shows-to the great surprise and fury of some people-that the old times are definitely over.
It shows that the former captive nations of Soviet times have become strong, independent states that determine their own policies.
No one, in short, is going back to the USSR.
Ladies and gentlemen, our region has made its choice.
A war has been launched to stop this movement, but tanks cannot reverse the sense of History and it is time for the long and dolorous hangover of imperialism to end, peacefully.
I call, therefore, on the Russian leaders to make the choice of the future.
They could play such a major positive role in the ongoing transformation of our common region, accepting other countries as partners and not vassals.
We all want-I personally want-Russia as a partner and not as an enemy.
Nobody has a greater stake than us in seeing Russia turn into a country that truly operates within the concert of nations, respects international law, and-this is often connected-upholds basic human rights.
This is why I wholeheartedly support the efforts of European and American leaders to strengthen their relationship with Russia.
Our conflict has done nothing to harden feelings between our two peoples: I want to tell the Russian people that they will always be welcome in Georgia, as partners, as tourists, as students, as businessmen, as journalists or simply as friends. Not as occupation forces.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to end this speech with a quote from the President of the first Georgian Republic, Noe Zhordania.
As you might know, Georgia was the first European social-democratic republic ever proclaimed in 1918.
A few days before the Red Army invaded his Georgia, Zhordania explained our European choice:
"What do we take from the cultural bow of European nations? Only 2000 years old national culture, democratic system and natural wealth."
Today, another Georgian President addresses you, with the same message of love for the European ideas and values.
It is rare that a nation is given twice in History the same opportunity.
I came here today to tell you that we will seize this opportunity and do whatever we can to achieve our European destiny.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the European Parliament,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am humbled by the immense honor that your invitation signifies for my country and I would like to thank the Presidency of the Parliament and all the political groups for this opportunity.
I came here to deliver a message of hope and to make a solemn pledge.
I came here to affirm that peace-a just and lasting peace-is possible in my region, and that we need Europe to contribute to it.
For centuries, the Caucasian mountains have been a geopolitical mystery, a beguiling paradox-a region where individuals and souls were free, but where citizens were oppressed; where cultures were tolerant, but where governments created artificial divisions; where people never ceased to feel deeply Europeans, but where walls erected by Empires turned Europe into a faraway mirage, where men and women were striving for peace, but where wars seemed unavoidable.
I came here to tell you that we must put an end to these times, that cooperation must replace rivalry, that negotiation must prevail over the rhetoric of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, in all the troubled corners of our world, the European Parliament is a symbol of hope-the striking proof that even the cruelest of conflicts can be overcome and that peace is worth any political risk.
This very place would not exist if-in the middle of ruins, surrounded by death and legitimate claims for revenge-brave leaders did not choose to end centuries of wars by launching the most ambitious and fascinating political experiment of our time: European unification.
This Parliament-divided not by nationality, but into political groups-fulfils the vision so eloquently expressed by Victor Hugo at the 1849 International Congress of Peace in Paris.
Allow me to quote this visionary poet in his own language:
"Un jour viendra où vous toutes, nations du continent, sans perdre vos qualités distinctes et votre glorieuse individualité, vous vous fondrez étroitement dans une unité supérieure, et vous constituerez la fraternité européenne. Un jour viendra où il n'y aura plus d'autres champs de bataille que les marchés s'ouvrant au commerce et les esprits s'ouvrant aux idées. Un jour viendra où les boulets et les bombes seront remplacés par les votes, par le suffrage universel des peuples, par le vénérable arbitrage d'un grand Sénat Souverain qui sera à l'Europe ce que le Parlement est à l'Angleterre, ce que la Diète est à l'Allemagne, ce que l'Assemblée législative est à la France!"
Most of Hugo's contemporaries thought he was an infantile dreamer when he pronounced this speech and it took more than 100 years and 2 world wars for History to hear his voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is high time for Hugo's voice to be echoed and heard in my region as well.
It is high time for this voice of brotherhood to overcome the sounds of canons and the calls for hatred.
It is high time for the European peace to be extended to the Caucasus.
And it is our responsibility, as political leaders, to conceive bold initiatives in order to make this happen.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Exactly 7 years ago, the Rose Revolution initiated the new journey towards the European family of an old European nation, my beloved Georgia.
On November 23rd 2003, hundreds of thousands of citizens-of all regional, religious, and social backgrounds-peacefully took over the streets and the Parliament.
They did more than overthrow a corrupt, backward-looking regime: they triggered what The Economist of London called some weeks ago a "mental revolution."
As some of you know it well in this Assembly, there has been two ways of getting out from communist regimes after the liberating collapse of USSR: the European one and the nationalistic one, the rule of law and the rule of fear. To sum up: Vaclav Havel or Slobodan Milosevic.
Once the tyranny of the Party was over, the divisions, the corruption, the verticality, the bureaucracy, the cynicism and the authoritarianism that were the pillars of the Soviet society remained.
7 years ago, Ladies and gentlemen, Georgia was formally an independent State but Georgia was still part of this world of fears and hatreds.
The borders of the soviet mentality were not abolished yet and Soviet Union was still existing in the minds and the souls.
Only a "mental revolution" could lead to a European transformation of our societies.
This is the message that we, Georgians, brought to this region. This is the message that unleashed so much anger towards us among the nostalgics of the Empire.
But this is the message that turned Georgia into a laboratory of reforms for our region.
When we led the Rose Revolution, we were members of student organizations, opposition parties, civil society groups-all united by a single dream: to turn a dysfunctional post-Soviet country crippled by corruption and crime into a European democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, Soviet Union was based on one principle: divide to rule.
People were artificially opposed to each others, at every level of the society, in every field.
In every Republic, the different religious, social, ethnic groups were put in constant rivalry and politics was understood as an art of manipulation of fears and hatreds.
This explains why former communists leaders turned so easily into nationalists, in the Balkans as well as in the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe as well as in Russia.
7 years ago, Georgia was still divided into isolated communities fearing each other and some extremists were using the weakness of the State to reject minorities.
Our first task was therefore to embrace multiculturalism and differences.
We have developed an affirmative action program - in all spheres, from higher education to law enforcement bodies.
Soviet Union had another caracteristic: an absolute centralization.
7 years ago, Georgia was still all about its capital and we initiated a vast decentralization program, heavily invested in regional infrastructures and spectacularly empowered local authorities.
As a result, regions that were once abandoned became the most striking examples of our development.
Until the Rose Revolution, all key regional principles were appointed by the President. So - while others were restoring the famous "vertical of power", canceling the autonomy of all regions - we systematically transferred powers to regional elected bodies.
This policy recently lead to the first direct election of the mayor of Tbilisi last May and in the decision to move the Constitutional Court to the city of Batumi and the Parliament to the city of Kutaisi.
Soviet Union was all about control and corruption, an overweight and inefficient State.
Our first step was therefore to dissolve the KGB, fire the entire police forces, as well as customs officers and tax agents, but also to open up our economy and our educational system.
The vision that guided all these steps was captured by a single symbol: besides every Georgian flag, in every official building, we installed a European flag.
We did this to show where we were aiming to take Georgia with our reforms.
Of course, our peaceful revolution has had its share of failures and shortcomings.
Of course, we have made mistakes.
But, as the great inventor of "European cosmopolitism" and one of my favorite philosophers- Emmanuel Kant-wrote about the French revolution: "You cannot be ready to be free until you are free."
What Emmanuel Kant meant, Ladies and gentlemen, is that no book can teach you in advance how to govern or even behave in freedom. You can only learn this from your own successes and failures.
We have had failures and we have learnt from them, but we have also had surprising successes.
Georgia has just been singled out by the World Bank as the number 1 economic reformer in the world over the last 5 years, and now ranks 12th place in the world for the ease of doing business, number one in Eastern and Central Europe.
Once the epicenter of the post-Soviet mafia, Georgia has made more progress against corruption than any other country in the world from 2004 to 2009, according to Transparency International.
I value these rankings only because they reflect and reveal the social and moral transformation that happened in my country, the "mental revolution" to which I referred earlier.
Georgian citizens have stopped thinking of their country as a post-Soviet state. They see it, judge it, and often criticize it as a European democracy.
Such change goes far beyond the leaders and parties that led the Rose Revolution. It is something that nobody owns and nobody can suppress, neither us nor anybody else. Such revolution leads to this amazing fact in our part of the world, the fact that Institutions are systematically more popular than any political figure.
There is a great deal more to do, obviously, and we are more committed than ever to pursuing our path of reforms.
We are aware than democracy is always a work in progress.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our alternative democratic model was not welcome by everyone, of course.
It met fierce opposition among those revisionist forces who still perceive the fall of the USSR as the "worst catastrophe of the 20th century."
They imposed a full-scale embargo on my nation in 2006, deported our citizens, repeatedly bombed our territory, and finally invaded in 2008.
As I speak, these forces still occupy 20% of Georgian territory, in blatant violation of international law and of the August 12th cease-fire agreement brokered thanks to the efforts of my good friend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was acting then as President of the European Union.
As I speak, Georgia still counts up to 500,000 IDP's and refugees who cannot return home because some people animated by an old imperialist mentality decided to welcome the 21st century by organizing ethnic cleansing campaigns and building a new Berlin Wall in my country.
How did we respond to these aggressions?
We fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without even once using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last August, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Hansjörg Haber, publicly praised Georgian restraint and our engagement strategy as "constructive unilateralism".
When tanks and missiles are standing at 50 kilometers of a capital, governments usually play the card of the besieged nation, proclaim that freedom is a luxury they cannot afford and start to crackdown their opposition and close their society.
We did exactly the contrary.
We are, Ladies and gentlemen, building a democracy at a gunpoint.
In front of the Iron Curtain than the occupation forces have built around the region of Abkhazia, in the small seaside town of Anaklia, a new tourism resort is being built as we speak, with beautiful hotels and sand beaches.
Some suggest that we should stop and wait until the situation is resolved and only then start building when the ground is less shaky.
Our philosophy is the complete opposite - we are constructing buildings not because they are on a strong ground but because building them will eventually make the ground stronger.
In Anaklia, a new phase of development started in 2005 after the place had been destroyed by the conflict already twice, in 1993 and 1998.
In 2008, it once again witnessed total destruction.
And few weeks after, the constructions started again.
A great poet and a famous Russian dissident, Alexander Galich, one of these 8 heroes that demonstrated on the Red Square in 68 against the invasion of Prague, wrote about Georgia:
"Прекрасная и гордая страна! / Ты отвечаешь шуткой на злословье."
Translation: "Splendid and proud country / You respond to mud-slinging by a smile"
Mr. President,
Distinguished Members of the European Parliament,
Ladies and gentlemen,
I am humbled by the immense honor that your invitation signifies for my country and I would like to thank the Presidency of the Parliament and all the political groups for this opportunity.
I came here to deliver a message of hope and to make a solemn pledge.
I came here to affirm that peace-a just and lasting peace-is possible in my region, and that we need Europe to contribute to it.
For centuries, the Caucasian mountains have been a geopolitical mystery, a beguiling paradox-a region where individuals and souls were free, but where citizens were oppressed; where cultures were tolerant, but where governments created artificial divisions; where people never ceased to feel deeply Europeans, but where walls erected by Empires turned Europe into a faraway mirage, where men and women were striving for peace, but where wars seemed unavoidable.
I came here to tell you that we must put an end to these times, that cooperation must replace rivalry, that negotiation must prevail over the rhetoric of war.
Ladies and gentlemen, in all the troubled corners of our world, the European Parliament is a symbol of hope-the striking proof that even the cruelest of conflicts can be overcome and that peace is worth any political risk.
This very place would not exist if-in the middle of ruins, surrounded by death and legitimate claims for revenge-brave leaders did not choose to end centuries of wars by launching the most ambitious and fascinating political experiment of our time: European unification.
This Parliament-divided not by nationality, but into political groups-fulfils the vision so eloquently expressed by Victor Hugo at the 1849 International Congress of Peace in Paris.
Allow me to quote this visionary poet in his own language:
"Un jour viendra où vous toutes, nations du continent, sans perdre vos qualités distinctes et votre glorieuse individualité, vous vous fondrez étroitement dans une unité supérieure, et vous constituerez la fraternité européenne. Un jour viendra où il n'y aura plus d'autres champs de bataille que les marchés s'ouvrant au commerce et les esprits s'ouvrant aux idées. Un jour viendra où les boulets et les bombes seront remplacés par les votes, par le suffrage universel des peuples, par le vénérable arbitrage d'un grand Sénat Souverain qui sera à l'Europe ce que le Parlement est à l'Angleterre, ce que la Diète est à l'Allemagne, ce que l'Assemblée législative est à la France!"
Most of Hugo's contemporaries thought he was an infantile dreamer when he pronounced this speech and it took more than 100 years and 2 world wars for History to hear his voice.
Ladies and gentlemen,
It is high time for Hugo's voice to be echoed and heard in my region as well.
It is high time for this voice of brotherhood to overcome the sounds of canons and the calls for hatred.
It is high time for the European peace to be extended to the Caucasus.
And it is our responsibility, as political leaders, to conceive bold initiatives in order to make this happen.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Exactly 7 years ago, the Rose Revolution initiated the new journey towards the European family of an old European nation, my beloved Georgia.
On November 23rd 2003, hundreds of thousands of citizens-of all regional, religious, and social backgrounds-peacefully took over the streets and the Parliament.
They did more than overthrow a corrupt, backward-looking regime: they triggered what The Economist of London called some weeks ago a "mental revolution."
As some of you know it well in this Assembly, there has been two ways of getting out from communist regimes after the liberating collapse of USSR: the European one and the nationalistic one, the rule of law and the rule of fear. To sum up: Vaclav Havel or Slobodan Milosevic.
Once the tyranny of the Party was over, the divisions, the corruption, the verticality, the bureaucracy, the cynicism and the authoritarianism that were the pillars of the Soviet society remained.
7 years ago, Ladies and gentlemen, Georgia was formally an independent State but Georgia was still part of this world of fears and hatreds.
The borders of the soviet mentality were not abolished yet and Soviet Union was still existing in the minds and the souls.
Only a "mental revolution" could lead to a European transformation of our societies.
This is the message that we, Georgians, brought to this region. This is the message that unleashed so much anger towards us among the nostalgics of the Empire.
But this is the message that turned Georgia into a laboratory of reforms for our region.
When we led the Rose Revolution, we were members of student organizations, opposition parties, civil society groups-all united by a single dream: to turn a dysfunctional post-Soviet country crippled by corruption and crime into a European democracy.
Ladies and gentlemen, Soviet Union was based on one principle: divide to rule.
People were artificially opposed to each others, at every level of the society, in every field.
In every Republic, the different religious, social, ethnic groups were put in constant rivalry and politics was understood as an art of manipulation of fears and hatreds.
This explains why former communists leaders turned so easily into nationalists, in the Balkans as well as in the Caucasus, in Eastern Europe as well as in Russia.
7 years ago, Georgia was still divided into isolated communities fearing each other and some extremists were using the weakness of the State to reject minorities.
Our first task was therefore to embrace multiculturalism and differences.
We have developed an affirmative action program - in all spheres, from higher education to law enforcement bodies.
Soviet Union had another caracteristic: an absolute centralization.
7 years ago, Georgia was still all about its capital and we initiated a vast decentralization program, heavily invested in regional infrastructures and spectacularly empowered local authorities.
As a result, regions that were once abandoned became the most striking examples of our development.
Until the Rose Revolution, all key regional principles were appointed by the President. So - while others were restoring the famous "vertical of power", canceling the autonomy of all regions - we systematically transferred powers to regional elected bodies.
This policy recently lead to the first direct election of the mayor of Tbilisi last May and in the decision to move the Constitutional Court to the city of Batumi and the Parliament to the city of Kutaisi.
Soviet Union was all about control and corruption, an overweight and inefficient State.
Our first step was therefore to dissolve the KGB, fire the entire police forces, as well as customs officers and tax agents, but also to open up our economy and our educational system.
The vision that guided all these steps was captured by a single symbol: besides every Georgian flag, in every official building, we installed a European flag.
We did this to show where we were aiming to take Georgia with our reforms.
Of course, our peaceful revolution has had its share of failures and shortcomings.
Of course, we have made mistakes.
But, as the great inventor of "European cosmopolitism" and one of my favorite philosophers- Emmanuel Kant-wrote about the French revolution: "You cannot be ready to be free until you are free."
What Emmanuel Kant meant, Ladies and gentlemen, is that no book can teach you in advance how to govern or even behave in freedom. You can only learn this from your own successes and failures.
We have had failures and we have learnt from them, but we have also had surprising successes.
Georgia has just been singled out by the World Bank as the number 1 economic reformer in the world over the last 5 years, and now ranks 12th place in the world for the ease of doing business, number one in Eastern and Central Europe.
Once the epicenter of the post-Soviet mafia, Georgia has made more progress against corruption than any other country in the world from 2004 to 2009, according to Transparency International.
I value these rankings only because they reflect and reveal the social and moral transformation that happened in my country, the "mental revolution" to which I referred earlier.
Georgian citizens have stopped thinking of their country as a post-Soviet state. They see it, judge it, and often criticize it as a European democracy.
Such change goes far beyond the leaders and parties that led the Rose Revolution. It is something that nobody owns and nobody can suppress, neither us nor anybody else. Such revolution leads to this amazing fact in our part of the world, the fact that Institutions are systematically more popular than any political figure.
There is a great deal more to do, obviously, and we are more committed than ever to pursuing our path of reforms.
We are aware than democracy is always a work in progress.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our alternative democratic model was not welcome by everyone, of course.
It met fierce opposition among those revisionist forces who still perceive the fall of the USSR as the "worst catastrophe of the 20th century."
They imposed a full-scale embargo on my nation in 2006, deported our citizens, repeatedly bombed our territory, and finally invaded in 2008.
As I speak, these forces still occupy 20% of Georgian territory, in blatant violation of international law and of the August 12th cease-fire agreement brokered thanks to the efforts of my good friend, French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who was acting then as President of the European Union.
As I speak, Georgia still counts up to 500,000 IDP's and refugees who cannot return home because some people animated by an old imperialist mentality decided to welcome the 21st century by organizing ethnic cleansing campaigns and building a new Berlin Wall in my country.
How did we respond to these aggressions?
We fully implemented the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without even once using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last August, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission, Hansjörg Haber, publicly praised Georgian restraint and our engagement strategy as "constructive unilateralism".
When tanks and missiles are standing at 50 kilometers of a capital, governments usually play the card of the besieged nation, proclaim that freedom is a luxury they cannot afford and start to crackdown their opposition and close their society.
We did exactly the contrary.
We are, Ladies and gentlemen, building a democracy at a gunpoint.
In front of the Iron Curtain than the occupation forces have built around the region of Abkhazia, in the small seaside town of Anaklia, a new tourism resort is being built as we speak, with beautiful hotels and sand beaches.
Some suggest that we should stop and wait until the situation is resolved and only then start building when the ground is less shaky.
Our philosophy is the complete opposite - we are constructing buildings not because they are on a strong ground but because building them will eventually make the ground stronger.
In Anaklia, a new phase of development started in 2005 after the place had been destroyed by the conflict already twice, in 1993 and 1998.
In 2008, it once again witnessed total destruction.
And few weeks after, the constructions started again.
A great poet and a famous Russian dissident, Alexander Galich, one of these 8 heroes that demonstrated on the Red Square in 68 against the invasion of Prague, wrote about Georgia:
"Прекрасная и гордая страна! / Ты отвечаешь шуткой на злословье."
Translation: "Splendid and proud country / You respond to mud-slinging by a smile"
Last time I visited Anaklia I saw a row of discotheques as lively as you can see anywhere in Europe, where young people danced just like they would do in Ibiza or Saint-Tropez.
The only difference was that after the last disco on the beech there is a wall that the occupying army has erected.
Let me ask you: what is more absurd than a New Berlin Wall on a sandy beech?
Ladies and gentlemen,
In short, we understand that peace is in our supreme interest and we are convinced there is no alternative to peace.
By jeopardizing peace, we would place at risk everything we have achieved and everything we want to achieve in the coming years.
And so I came here to announce a new step in our policy of constructive unilateralism.
I am here to take an initiative that, I hope and with your help, will defuse the tensions and allow serious negotiations to start.
Before coming, I reflected a lot and also consulted with our European and American allies.
The Georgian government already considers itself bound by the August 12th ceasefire agreement and has always understood that this ceasefire clearly prohibits the use of force.
But-in order to prove that Georgia is definitively committed to a peaceful resolution of its conflict with the Russian Federation-we take today the unilateral initiative to declare that Georgia will never use force to restore its territorial integrity and sovereignty, that it will only resort to peaceful means in its quest for de-occupation and reunification.
Even if the Russian Federation refuses to withdraw its occupation forces, even if its proxy militias multiply their human rights violations, Georgia will only retain the right to self-defense in the case of new attacks and invasion of the 80% of the Georgian territory that remains under control of the Georgian government.
I will address the relevant letters to the Secretary General of the United Nations, the Secretary General of the OSCE, and the leadership of the European Union, stating clearly that we commit ourselves not to use force in order to reunite our illegally divided country, neither against the occupation forces, nor against their proxies, even though the UN Charter could allow us to do so.
My pledge here, in front of you, constitutes a unilateral declaration of a state under international law.
This initiative, Ladies and gentlemen, is far from an easy one for a country that is partially occupied and that counts 500 000 IDPs and refugees.
It continues and expands our policy of "constructive unilateralism."
I am, ladies and gentlemen, ready for a deep and comprehensive dialogue with my Russian counterpart.
We will of course continue to participate in the Geneva talks, hoping that our pledge today will persuade the Russian Federation to stop blocking these discussions.
But we need the political dialogue to start as well.
And for this to occur, the international community must make clear to the Russian leaders that the situation today is totally irregular and unsustainable.
In order to push them to discuss a compromise, its is essential to clearly state the reality of the situation on the ground.
This is why we are asking that the Russian military buildup within the international borders of Georgia be qualified as an illegal occupation of a sovereign territory. Many European nations, as well as the United States, already have done so.
Equally, the brutal campaigns that have expelled hundreds of thousands of Georgian citizens from the occupied territories should be qualified as illegal acts of ethnic cleansing.
If we fail to denounce this ethnic cleansing, why would the occupiers ever even consider allowing them to return to their homes and villages?
Ladies and gentlemen, if the first victim of war is always the truth, the truth is always the most solid foundation of peace.
Our constructive unilateralism and the pledge I have just made will not have the expected impact if our European friends do not speak out the truth-if you do not speak out the truth."
I came here today, humbly, to tell you that we depend on you.
Ladies and gentlemen,
Our region has known too many wars in recent History. It is time, to paraphrase Hugo once again, to replace canons with roundtables.
Our region has had its own Warsaw, its own Coventry, its own Oradour-Sur-Glane, and it is time to build on our common rejection of war and destruction.
It is time to say that we must never have another Grozny- a regional capital of 400 000 inhabitants that has been totally wiped out from the surface of the globe.
It is time to say that we must never see again people expelled from their homes or deported on the basis of their nationality, their faith or their origins, as it happened in my own country as well as in other countries of the region.
I am ready to work with the Russian leadership so that this does not happen ever again, so that the consequences of war are reversed and the conditions for peace are established.
Walls like the one dividing Georgia will not be brought down by bombs, but by the commitment of citizens to build a free, united country-and by the commitment of the world community to enforce international law.
It is noticeable that, despite enormous pressure and multiple threats from Moscow, not a single former Soviet republic has recognized the dismemberment of Georgia.
It shows-to the great surprise and fury of some people-that the old times are definitely over.
It shows that the former captive nations of Soviet times have become strong, independent states that determine their own policies.
No one, in short, is going back to the USSR.
Ladies and gentlemen, our region has made its choice.
A war has been launched to stop this movement, but tanks cannot reverse the sense of History and it is time for the long and dolorous hangover of imperialism to end, peacefully.
I call, therefore, on the Russian leaders to make the choice of the future.
They could play such a major positive role in the ongoing transformation of our common region, accepting other countries as partners and not vassals.
We all want-I personally want-Russia as a partner and not as an enemy.
Nobody has a greater stake than us in seeing Russia turn into a country that truly operates within the concert of nations, respects international law, and-this is often connected-upholds basic human rights.
This is why I wholeheartedly support the efforts of European and American leaders to strengthen their relationship with Russia.
Our conflict has done nothing to harden feelings between our two peoples: I want to tell the Russian people that they will always be welcome in Georgia, as partners, as tourists, as students, as businessmen, as journalists or simply as friends. Not as occupation forces.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I would like to end this speech with a quote from the President of the first Georgian Republic, Noe Zhordania.
As you might know, Georgia was the first European social-democratic republic ever proclaimed in 1918.
A few days before the Red Army invaded his Georgia, Zhordania explained our European choice:
"What do we take from the cultural bow of European nations? Only 2000 years old national culture, democratic system and natural wealth."
Today, another Georgian President addresses you, with the same message of love for the European ideas and values.
It is rare that a nation is given twice in History the same opportunity.
I came here today to tell you that we will seize this opportunity and do whatever we can to achieve our European destiny.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Süd-Ossetien, Russland, Krieg-2008, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
US-Außenministerin Clinton in Georgien: ‘unerschütterliche’ Unterstützung
05.07.2010 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
US-Außenministerin Clinton beteuert nochmals Georgien’s ‘unerschütterliche’ Unterstützung
Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, reiterated Washington’s “steadfast” support to Georgia, spoke out against “the continued occupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, called on Tbilisi not to be “provoked” by Russia and not to be focused on the past.
Clinton paid a six-hour visit to Georgia on July 5, which was her final stop on her tour of Eastern European countries, which also included Ukraine, Poland, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
During her stay in Tbilisi the U.S. Secretary of State held a town hall meeting with women leaders, met with President Saakashvili and some opposition leaders and took a walk in the old part of Tbilisi together with the Georgian leader.
Town Hall Meeting
The town hall meeting in the National Library involved over hundred of women, including from advocacy and media groups, opposition parties, lawmakers and some senior government officials, as well as the Georgian First Lady, Sandra Roelofs.
“I believe that the potential of this country to serve as a beacon and model for democracy and progress is extraordinary,” Clinton said in her opening remarks at the meeting.
During question-and-answer session the Secretary of State was asked by Tina Khidasheli of the opposition Republican Party whether the Obama administration had “real a democracy agenda” for Georgia. “The real one and not the one we have seen during the Bush times – that was ‘well, we know what Saakashvili does, but he’s our guy’… is that any real weapon the U.S. has to influence the democratic changes?” Khidasheli asked and added that she was concerned about, what she called, increasing skepticism towards the West among Georgians.
“The United States always has a democratic agenda,” Clinton responded.
“Our view is that Georgia has made extraordinary progress and has demonstrated resilience in the face of very difficult circumstances. But of course, we raise issues - whether it’s criminal code, independent judiciary or free media; we raise these issues as a friend, as a supporter, as a believer in the significance of Georgian democracy.”
“We gonna continue to support democracy in Georgia,” Clinton added.
She said that when people starting saying that they become skeptical of the west, the alternative was to “work to overcome that skepticism, work to fix the problem.”
Later during the same meeting she again addressed the same issue and said: “It is beyond my imagination that a country that has fought so hard to be independent, despite the difficulties would be seeking another potential route.”
Another government critic, Eka Beselia, a former member of ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili’s party, who now leads an advocacy group, told the Secretary of State that there were more than 60 “political prisoners” in Georgia. “And I want to request you to ask President Saakashvili why he holds political prisoners and why the judiciary is not independent,” Beselia told Clinton and added that she herself became a victim, because her family members faced criminal persecution “just because I was in the opposition.”
“We raise all of these concerns with our meetings with the officials; I will raise this and other concerns when I meet with the President… I want to be clear that the United State supports the Georgian people and the Georgian democracy,” Clinton responded.
When a lawmaker from the ruling party, Chiora Taktakishivli, asked the Secretary of State what was the U.S. agenda to facilitate return of displaced persons back to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Clinton responded that the U.S. was “appalled and totally rejected the invasion and occupation of the Georgian territory.”
“We continue to speak out against the continued occupation and we support the use of the Geneva mechanism but it needs to be revived and it needs to be intensified. And we intend to try to do that. I am not going to stand here and tell you that this is an easy problem because this is not,” Clinton said.
During the same meeting Clinton stressed that the best way for Georgia was to move forward with its reforms and economic development and not to focus on the past.
“It is a mistake to focus on the past. Too many countries in this part of Europe are looking backwards instead of forwards,” she said. “It does not mean you forget the past; it does not mean you don’t take prudent measures to protect yourself, but staying focused on what you can do today and tomorrow to improve your lives and lives of your fellow citizens and building your democracy and opening your economy and providing for justice and social inclusion – that is for me a great mission of Georgia.”
She again reiterated that while trying to reset relations with Russia, the United States continued “to object and criticize actions by Russia which we believe are wrong and on the top of the list is the invasion and occupation of Georgia.”
She also “strongly urge” Georgia “not be baited or provoked into any action that would give any excuse to the Russians to take any further aggressive movements.”
‘Steadfast Commitment to Georgia's Sovereignty’
After the town hall meeting, the Secretary of State headed to the presidential palace, where she met with President Saakashvili.
Clinton said in her opening remarks at the joint news conference after the meeting that she arrived in Georgia to deliver “a clear message” from President Obama, that the United States “is steadfast in its commitment to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The United States does not recognize spheres of influence,” she said and added that President Obama and she had communicated this message also with the Russian counterparts.
She said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to abide with its commitments undertaken under the August 12 six-point ceasefire agreement and to pull back its troops to pre-August war line.
She also reiterated the U.S. position that there was no need for any additional agreement, as insisted by Russia – a reference to Moscow’s calls on Tbilisi to sign a non-use of force treaty or a declaration. Moscow, however, itself refuses to sign such document citing that it is not party into the conflict.
Echoing Tbilisi’s position on the matter, Clinton said that if such agreement was anyway prepared, it would only be acceptable if Russia also was the part of it.
She said that Geneva talks were an important forum to help increase transparency in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to help reduce tensions.
She said that the U.S. “strongly urges” South Ossetians “to immediately” resume participation in the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM). She also said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to encourage South Ossetians to return to that mechanism, which was established in frames of Geneva discussions and involves regular meetings between the sides to address security concerns on the ground.
She also called on the Abkhaz side “to constructively participate” in the Geneva talks. Sokhumi said last month that it was "temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva talks – the move which Tbilisi said was in fact Russia’s attempt to undermine Geneva talks with the hands of its “puppet regime” in Sokhumi.
Clinton said the U.S. was concerned about construction of Russia’s “permanent military base” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and added that Washington “made it clear” to the Russian authorities that such move was not in line with their commitments under the ceasefire agreement.
Clinton thanked Georgia for its significant contribution to the NATO forces in Afghanistan and added that this contribution showed evidence of Georgia’s “diligent movement towards meeting the requirements” for NATO membership.
Shortcomings Remain
At the joint news conference with President Saakashvili, Clinton said that despite “difficult circumstances” Georgia made “a real progress” in past few years.
“But, as you know better than I, there are still shortcomings. We want to urge Georgia to continue work of the Rose Revolution,” Clinton said.
U.S. ‘Decisive’ Assistance
Saakashvili said that the U.S. assistance was “decisive” for Georgia since its independence.
He said that “repeated statements” defending Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity made by the Obama administration, as well as the U.S. support to Georgia’s democracy were of vital importance for Tbilisi.
He also said that Georgia remained committed to reforms and modernization and although much remained to be done, Georgia was “a model of political and economic reforms” and “a shining example at least for this region.” He also added that despite occupation and challenges, Georgia would never turn away from this path of “reforms and modernization.”
‘Step-By-Step’ Security Cooperation
During the press conference, Saakashvili was asked about “de facto restrictions” on sale of U.S. arms to Georgia on which he responded by saying that Georgia had “very good security cooperation” with the United States and brought an example of Georgia’s contribution to the Afghan operation.
He said that this security cooperation “is a process, a step-by-step approach.” He said that “there is nothing to complain about” the U.S. policy on this issue.
On the U.S. reset policy with Russia, Saakashvili said that although initially some questions were raised about the issue, it was now clear that the reset did not come at the expense of principles.
“It is a value-based policy… That’s why we all love America,” he said.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Clinton, Russland, Saakaschwili, Sarkozy, Süd-Ossetien, USA
US-Außenministerin Clinton beteuert nochmals Georgien’s ‘unerschütterliche’ Unterstützung
Hillary Clinton, the U.S. secretary of state, reiterated Washington’s “steadfast” support to Georgia, spoke out against “the continued occupation” of Abkhazia and South Ossetia by Russia, called on Tbilisi not to be “provoked” by Russia and not to be focused on the past.
Clinton paid a six-hour visit to Georgia on July 5, which was her final stop on her tour of Eastern European countries, which also included Ukraine, Poland, Azerbaijan and Armenia.
During her stay in Tbilisi the U.S. Secretary of State held a town hall meeting with women leaders, met with President Saakashvili and some opposition leaders and took a walk in the old part of Tbilisi together with the Georgian leader.
Town Hall Meeting
The town hall meeting in the National Library involved over hundred of women, including from advocacy and media groups, opposition parties, lawmakers and some senior government officials, as well as the Georgian First Lady, Sandra Roelofs.
“I believe that the potential of this country to serve as a beacon and model for democracy and progress is extraordinary,” Clinton said in her opening remarks at the meeting.
During question-and-answer session the Secretary of State was asked by Tina Khidasheli of the opposition Republican Party whether the Obama administration had “real a democracy agenda” for Georgia. “The real one and not the one we have seen during the Bush times – that was ‘well, we know what Saakashvili does, but he’s our guy’… is that any real weapon the U.S. has to influence the democratic changes?” Khidasheli asked and added that she was concerned about, what she called, increasing skepticism towards the West among Georgians.
“The United States always has a democratic agenda,” Clinton responded.
“Our view is that Georgia has made extraordinary progress and has demonstrated resilience in the face of very difficult circumstances. But of course, we raise issues - whether it’s criminal code, independent judiciary or free media; we raise these issues as a friend, as a supporter, as a believer in the significance of Georgian democracy.”
“We gonna continue to support democracy in Georgia,” Clinton added.
She said that when people starting saying that they become skeptical of the west, the alternative was to “work to overcome that skepticism, work to fix the problem.”
Later during the same meeting she again addressed the same issue and said: “It is beyond my imagination that a country that has fought so hard to be independent, despite the difficulties would be seeking another potential route.”
Another government critic, Eka Beselia, a former member of ex-defense minister Irakli Okruashvili’s party, who now leads an advocacy group, told the Secretary of State that there were more than 60 “political prisoners” in Georgia. “And I want to request you to ask President Saakashvili why he holds political prisoners and why the judiciary is not independent,” Beselia told Clinton and added that she herself became a victim, because her family members faced criminal persecution “just because I was in the opposition.”
“We raise all of these concerns with our meetings with the officials; I will raise this and other concerns when I meet with the President… I want to be clear that the United State supports the Georgian people and the Georgian democracy,” Clinton responded.
When a lawmaker from the ruling party, Chiora Taktakishivli, asked the Secretary of State what was the U.S. agenda to facilitate return of displaced persons back to their homes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Clinton responded that the U.S. was “appalled and totally rejected the invasion and occupation of the Georgian territory.”
“We continue to speak out against the continued occupation and we support the use of the Geneva mechanism but it needs to be revived and it needs to be intensified. And we intend to try to do that. I am not going to stand here and tell you that this is an easy problem because this is not,” Clinton said.
During the same meeting Clinton stressed that the best way for Georgia was to move forward with its reforms and economic development and not to focus on the past.
“It is a mistake to focus on the past. Too many countries in this part of Europe are looking backwards instead of forwards,” she said. “It does not mean you forget the past; it does not mean you don’t take prudent measures to protect yourself, but staying focused on what you can do today and tomorrow to improve your lives and lives of your fellow citizens and building your democracy and opening your economy and providing for justice and social inclusion – that is for me a great mission of Georgia.”
She again reiterated that while trying to reset relations with Russia, the United States continued “to object and criticize actions by Russia which we believe are wrong and on the top of the list is the invasion and occupation of Georgia.”
She also “strongly urge” Georgia “not be baited or provoked into any action that would give any excuse to the Russians to take any further aggressive movements.”
‘Steadfast Commitment to Georgia's Sovereignty’
After the town hall meeting, the Secretary of State headed to the presidential palace, where she met with President Saakashvili.
Clinton said in her opening remarks at the joint news conference after the meeting that she arrived in Georgia to deliver “a clear message” from President Obama, that the United States “is steadfast in its commitment to Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
“The United States does not recognize spheres of influence,” she said and added that President Obama and she had communicated this message also with the Russian counterparts.
She said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to abide with its commitments undertaken under the August 12 six-point ceasefire agreement and to pull back its troops to pre-August war line.
She also reiterated the U.S. position that there was no need for any additional agreement, as insisted by Russia – a reference to Moscow’s calls on Tbilisi to sign a non-use of force treaty or a declaration. Moscow, however, itself refuses to sign such document citing that it is not party into the conflict.
Echoing Tbilisi’s position on the matter, Clinton said that if such agreement was anyway prepared, it would only be acceptable if Russia also was the part of it.
She said that Geneva talks were an important forum to help increase transparency in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and to help reduce tensions.
She said that the U.S. “strongly urges” South Ossetians “to immediately” resume participation in the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM). She also said that the U.S. was calling on Russia to encourage South Ossetians to return to that mechanism, which was established in frames of Geneva discussions and involves regular meetings between the sides to address security concerns on the ground.
She also called on the Abkhaz side “to constructively participate” in the Geneva talks. Sokhumi said last month that it was "temporarily withdrawing" from Geneva talks – the move which Tbilisi said was in fact Russia’s attempt to undermine Geneva talks with the hands of its “puppet regime” in Sokhumi.
Clinton said the U.S. was concerned about construction of Russia’s “permanent military base” in Abkhazia and South Ossetia and added that Washington “made it clear” to the Russian authorities that such move was not in line with their commitments under the ceasefire agreement.
Clinton thanked Georgia for its significant contribution to the NATO forces in Afghanistan and added that this contribution showed evidence of Georgia’s “diligent movement towards meeting the requirements” for NATO membership.
Shortcomings Remain
At the joint news conference with President Saakashvili, Clinton said that despite “difficult circumstances” Georgia made “a real progress” in past few years.
“But, as you know better than I, there are still shortcomings. We want to urge Georgia to continue work of the Rose Revolution,” Clinton said.
U.S. ‘Decisive’ Assistance
Saakashvili said that the U.S. assistance was “decisive” for Georgia since its independence.
He said that “repeated statements” defending Georgia’s sovereignty and territorial integrity made by the Obama administration, as well as the U.S. support to Georgia’s democracy were of vital importance for Tbilisi.
He also said that Georgia remained committed to reforms and modernization and although much remained to be done, Georgia was “a model of political and economic reforms” and “a shining example at least for this region.” He also added that despite occupation and challenges, Georgia would never turn away from this path of “reforms and modernization.”
‘Step-By-Step’ Security Cooperation
During the press conference, Saakashvili was asked about “de facto restrictions” on sale of U.S. arms to Georgia on which he responded by saying that Georgia had “very good security cooperation” with the United States and brought an example of Georgia’s contribution to the Afghan operation.
He said that this security cooperation “is a process, a step-by-step approach.” He said that “there is nothing to complain about” the U.S. policy on this issue.
On the U.S. reset policy with Russia, Saakashvili said that although initially some questions were raised about the issue, it was now clear that the reset did not come at the expense of principles.
“It is a value-based policy… That’s why we all love America,” he said.
Stichworte: Georgien, Abchasien, Clinton, Russland, Saakaschwili, Sarkozy, Süd-Ossetien, USA
Saakashvili Speaks of 'United Caucasus' in UN Speech
24.09.2010 | Civil.ge | Link zur Quelle | Bilder | Video |
- To Abkhaz, Ossetians: 'we will protect you' - To Moscow: 'be part of transformation of region' - To Moscow: 'learn from us how to transform society' - To world leaders: 'help us to secure peace' - 'Modernization impossible with Khodorkovsky in Gulag' - Calls on three countries to reverse Abkhaz, S.Ossetia recognition
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source: PDF-original of the speech at the UN General Assembly
REMARKS OF H.E MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI
PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA
THE 65th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
23 SEPTEMBER 2010
NEW YORK
Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,
It is always a great honor for me to address the annual general assembly of the United
Nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, in uncertain times like ours, cooperation is more necessary than ever.
Unless we stand together and invent new approaches to the global challenges we are all
facing, we will be tom apart by fear and self-destructive interests.
Gatherings like this one, therefore, are valuable only if they allow us to shape a common
vision for concrete actions towards peace, development solidarity, and justice.
This month, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the international community and the
leadership of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. direct peace talks have
resumed between Israelis and Palestinians.
They resumed precisely at a moment when many people had given up hope for a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East.
The road to peace. security. and justice is still a long one. The remaining obstacles are
enormous. But the goal is so noble and necessary that no effort should be spared.
This is why today I would like to pay tribute to all those who are taking risks for peace.
Yes, risks. Because peace is never obvious. never easy.
That is certainly true in the Middle East, and it is true in my region as well.
One of our common goals, then, must be to enable those risk-takers who have the courage to
defy conventional wisdom and forge new paths to peace.
Peace is not an easy way. But peace is the only way.
As the President of a young democracy that recently suffered from war and invasion and is
still under partial occupation by a nuclear superpower-I can say this: peace is our most
precious common goal and. at the same time. our only path towards the other goals we share.
To those here. and in my own country who see no way to reverse the armed occupation or
reduce regional tensions. I say: peace is not only the goal, it is also the means to any goal.
Today. ladies and gentlemen. my region is at a crossroads.
For too long. it has suffered from division. injustice. conflict. colonization. and violence.
Today. however. change is possible. In fact. change is already taking place.
I came here to speak about this change and to promote a specific vision - a vision for a free.
stable and united Caucasus.
From Pushkin, Lermontov or Tolstoy's times till now. the Caucasian mountains were a
symbol of wilderness and paradoxes. a region where individuals and souls were
fundamentally free. but where citizens were politically oppressed. where people and cultures
were deeply tolerant but where governments and authorities created artificial divisions. where
shepherds would cross 5000 meters high mountains. but where rulers erected walls nobody
could cross.
I came here today to tell you that these times are vanishing. that the dream of unity and peace
is possible.
When I addressed you two years ago - in the aftermath of a full-scale invasion and when
Russian Foreign Minister was openly threatening Georgia of total annihilation - few people
believed that our country would survive as an independent and democratic state.
Few people thought that our government would endure-that our economy would survive the
war and the global crisis-that our reforms could continue with renewed vigor-or that we
would make steady progress toward the European Union and Euro-Atlantic structures.
Well. I am proud to tell you. two years later. that we have succeeded against the odds.
Thanks to the commitment of the Georgian people and to the support of our friends and allies.
Today. Georgia is back.
Georgia is back. first as a laboratory for political reform and social transformation.
2
More than ever, we are committed to the promise at the heart ofthe Rose Revolution-to turn
a failed state into a modern European one.
Our local elections last May were proof of that transformation and a
democracy, the result of seven years of patient, constant.
milestone for our
tireless reform.
This effort, of course, has to go on-and it will go on because a great deal remains to be done.
Our objective is clear: to create a more institutionalized system of liberal democratic
governance.
Ladies and gentlemen, my term as president ends in 2013 and these changes will survive my
presidency and the current government.
Because we are not only speaking about changes of leadership or reforms of institutions, we
are speaking about something deeper and stronger-something that The Economist of London
recently characterized as Georgia's "mental revolution."
The Georgian people have tasted freedom, the absence of corruption, the fruits of economic
development, the emergence of a true meritocracy. They have changed their behavior, their
vision of the world, their dreams even, and they will mightily resist any attempts to reverse
these changes-no matter if those attempts come from inside or from abroad.
This is our great victory: we helped to create something that goes far beyond the leaders and
parties that led the Rose Revolution. We helped to create a revolution of the heart and the
mind.
Once one of the most corrupt countries of the post-Soviet world, Georgia has made greater
gains in the fight against corruption, as measured by Transparency International, than any
other country over the past five years.
Once a place where foreign investors were kidnapped by gangs and mafias, Georgia is now
ranked by the World Bank as number II for the ease of doing business in the world a
ranking we hope to further improve this year.
These rankings make clear why Georgia's only interest is a peaceful resolution of conflicts:
Georgia is winning the peace-Georgia is winning through peace.
Our northern neighbor expected us to change our path when it imposed on us a full embargo
in 2006. invaded us in 2008. ethnically cleansed Georgian regions and illegally occupied 20%
of our territory. an occupation that continues to this day.
All these actions had one objective: to destroy the Georgian laboratory of political. economic.
and social reform-to prevent the region from changing.
We answered these relentless attacks by reinvigorating our reforms. opening our economy
even more. and accelerating our social transformation.
3
This is our policy and no provocation will ever make us change it.
Thanks to this commitment to reform, Georgia is now a responsible international player.
I am proud that my nation is fighting international terrorism in Afghanistan. I would like to
pay tribute here to our nearly 1,000 soldiers who are risking their lives every day to help the
Afghan people secure a stable, terror-free future.
I want to pay a special tribute today to company commander, First Lieutenant Mukhran
Shukvani. Earlier this month, Mukhran was killed in the cause of peace, while serving
alongside NATO forces in the dangerous Helmand province of Afghanistan.
We are fighting other common scourges, too, focusing especially on the terrible danger of
nuclear trafficking. Many times over the past seven years, we have intercepted criminals who
had in their possession the essential ingredients for nuclear devices. Every step of the way, we
have cooperated with our allies in the international community to ensure that Georgia is doing
everything possible to confront this global danger.
Here I must pause to bring your attention to a grave problem that results from the partial
occupation of my country-a problem everybody should worry about, even those who
overlook international law, forget 500 000 lOPS and refugees, dismiss repeated assaults on
basic human rights, civil liberties, and the environment.
I am speaking of the lawlessness bred by the Russian occupation. Our two occupied regions
exist in a black hole of governance. Today, in these lands, criminals act with impunity. The
most elemental human rights are abused. Drugs and weapons are smuggled. People are
trafficked. And potential weapons of mass destruction are moved in and out of these
territories, posing a threat to us all.
Three days ago. we met in this very place to discuss the Millennium Development Goals and
our progress in meeting them over the past decade. I won't tire you with a recitation of our
efforts to achieve the MDGs-the strides we have made in halving our poverty rate,
reforming our educational system and improving health care.
But I will tell you that these successes remain bittersweet for me because they cannot be
savored by all the people of Georgia.
Not by those who live in fear for their basic rights in the occupied territories. nor fully by
these 500 000 lOPs and refugees who were expelled from their homes.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the last two years. the Russian Federation has been violating the
cease fire agreement broke red on 12 August 2008. by my good friend French President
Nicolas Sarkozy. who was acting at the time on behalfofthe European Union.
The Russian army has not withdrawn as required by the cease fire. European Union monitors
cannot enter Russian-occupied areas. where a constant military buildup is taking place.
Hundreds of thousands of lOPs. victims of the ethnic cleansing campaign led by the Russian
forces. are still prevented from returning to their homes.
4
How did Georgia respond to these violations of international law and human rights?
We answered with patience and calm.
We implemented-fully-the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without
ever using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last month, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission. Ambassador Haber,
publicly praised Georgian policy as "constructive unilateralism."
What does "constructive unilateralism" mean?
It refers for instance to our calm when FSB supported militias killed our policemen at the
occupation line or to our willingness to free criminals working for the occupation regime
when the other side was kidnapping teenagers who wanted only to visit their empty house.
"Constructive unilateral ism" means that we behave in a civilized and patient way. even when
our enemy uses barbaric methods or implements an impulsive and irrational policy.
It means that - even if peace requires both sides to come to the table of negotiations - you can
pave the way to peace on your own.
This "constructive unilateral ism" is based on the idea that peace is in the supreme interest of
Georgia, that peace is the only path to the de-occupation of our country.
It forms the substance of the strategy on occupied territories that my government has put in
motion to engage the populations held hostage by the Russian occupiers. on the other side of
the New Iron Curtain that illegally divides our country.
Walls like the one dividing Georgia will not be brought down by bombs, but by the
commitment of citizens to build a free, united country-and by the commitment of the world
community to enforce international law and the principles of the UN Charter.
This commitment is expressed in the refusal of nearly the entire world to legitimize the
Russian occupation by recognizing the so-called independence of Abkhazia and the
Tskhinvali region. a de facto annexation of Georgian territories by the Russian Federation.
It is noticeable that. despite enormous pressure and multiple threats from Moscow. not a
single former soviet republic has recognized this dismemberment of Georgia.
It shows-to the great surprise and fury of those who describe the fall of the Soviet Empire as
the worst catastrophe of the zo" century-that the old times are definitely over.
It shows that the change I evoked earlier already has taken root.
It shows that the former captive nations of the Soviet times became strong independent states
that can determine their own policies.
It is noticeable-and it is noticed in Moscow.
5
Ladies and gentlemen, I solemnly call today on those three, isolated UN member states that
recognized Russia's de facto annexation of our territories and legitimized the Russian led
ethnic cleansing campaigns to reverse their decision,
It is never too late to overturn a bad policy, The dismemberment of Georgia has failed
categorically - and even the Russian Federation will one day need to reverse its disastrous
policy.
Imagine how uncomfortable these three isolated leaders from faraway countries will be when
Moscow itself chooses to comply with international law and withdraw its troops?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, that day will come.
Those who claimed a military victory in 2008 now face a diplomatic and political defeat. And,
in Moscow, the occupation and annexation will soon be debated. They are in fact already
debated in the corridors of the Kremlin.
Because this situation is not sustainable, even for the Russian leadership.
We have now, in our country, Russian soldiers deserting their units and fleeing to the
Georgian side through the Wall erected by their superiors.
Just like Soviet soldiers did in Berlin during the Cold War.
In which sense is History moving? Certainly not in the sense of those who can deploy
thousands of tanks but who cannot even take care of their soldiers or prevent them from
fleeing.
Ladies and gentlemen. those who refuse to modernize their society and to open their political
system might have an interest in war or instability.
But in Georgia. we know and we have always known that peace is our interest- the very
precondition of our survival and our success.
Ladies and gentlemen. I have three calls to make today:
My first call is addressed to my fellow citizens of Abkhaz and Ossetian origins who live
behind the New Iron Curtain that divides our common nation. I want to tell them once again:
we will protect your rights. your culture. your history-we will work with you. we will work
./01' you.
You are part ofa common history. a common culture. and a common future. Your differences
enrich our proud national tapestry.
Rather than succumb to annexation by the Russian Empire. we invite you to build together
with us a multicultural and multiethnic society that would be a regional model for tolerance
and respect.
I dream about the day when an Abkhaz or Ossetian citizen of Georgia - as it happened several
times in our common history - will become President of a reunited. democratic and European
Georgia.
6
And this dream will become possible in a reunited and free Georgia, a Georgia that would
build positive relations and even intense cooperation with the Russian Federation.
A Russian Federation acting as a rational international player and not as a revisionist power.
A Russian Federation that will have chosen cooperation instead of occupation, union of
markets rather than embargoes, tolerance instead of crackdowns.
My second call is, therefore, to the Russian leadership: you face a choice.
Either you take a major part in this ongoing transformation of our common region, accepting
other countries as partners and not vassals.
Or this transformation will happen without you.
We all want-I personally want-Russia as a partner and not as an enemy.
That is why the Georgian government supports the reset policy of the United States and the
European Union's engagement with Russia.
Nobody has a greater stake than us in seeing Russia turn into a country that truly operates
within the concert of nations, respects international law, and-this is often connectedupholds
basic human rights.
I want to tell the Russian people that they will always be welcome in Georgia, as tourists, as
students, as businessmen, as journalists or simply as friends. Not as occupation forces.
And I want to tell the Russian leaders that they should care more about their citizens and less
about our diplomatic orientation, more about developing the Northern Caucasus - a region
that is exploding as I speak - than about undermining our development.
They are welcome to come too if they want, in order to understand how a post-soviet society
can turn into a European one.
I invite them to come, with notebooks rather than with missiles, with ipads rather than
kalashnikov's,
I was pleased to notice that some of our reforms inspired a few recent presidential speeches in
Moscow.
Instead of fighting each other, we should excel together in modernizing our common region.
And instead of secretly copying or envying our reforms, they should cooperate with us in
order to build a stable and free area.
Because. by looking over the best pupil's shoulder. one might not get the full picture of what
modernization means.
And allow me to say that the complete picture is rather simple: you cannot achieve lasting
stability and prosperity without respecting some basic principles.
Modernization without freedom is not sustainable and you cannot hope to diversify and
develop your economy when you send your most successful businessmen to the Gulag. like
Mikheil Khodorkovski.
Computers are not enough if you do not have free minds to use them.
So let us free our minds from our common soviet past in order to build a common future.
My third call goes to all of you. to the international community: help us to secure peace. in
Georgia. but also in our broader region.
We Georgians have learned tragically how a so-called frozen conflict can very quickly
become a hot one.
If there is clear support from the international community. I am convinced that a lasting peace
can be secured in the Caucasus.
I am convinced that if the world shows the same commitment to a peaceful resolution of
conflicts in my region than in other parts of the world. we can accomplish wonders.
It is in everybody's interest to see this strategic region. this crossroads of civilizations.
become more stable. prosperous. and open.
7
Ladies and gentlemen, History has taught us that wars can erupt quickly - but also that brave
leaders can secure peace where and when nobody would ever believe that conflicts could be
resolved.
History has taught us that regions that were torn apart by armed conflicts and contaminated by
hate - starting with Europe - can achieve lasting peace through cooperation, interdependence
and unity.
History has taught us that dreams are often more realistic than resignation.
I strongly believe that a common market, shared interests, and political and economic
interdependence will one day give birth to a united Caucasus. That is what I am calling for
today.
We share a similar history of oppression, but we have also in common a deep, essential and
undefeated aspiration for freedom.
Let us capitalize on this aspiration. Our region will never be truly free if it is not united.
It will of course require a long and difficult series of efforts and gestures, from all of us, but
the objective is worth every sacrifice.
As it happened a long time ago with the European Union - this amazing geopolitical
revolution we aspire to join one day - the historical move towards Caucasian unity will start
with concrete projects, in the energy sector, in the education and the cultural fields, in the civil
society spheres.
We should begin with more people to people exchanges. It is time we get to know each other
and forge links that will bring us together without changing existing boarders.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, my birth town and our capital. Tbilisi. is
inhabited by Caucasians from every religion and from every ethnicity. Altogether, these
people form a living example of tolerance and cooperation.
We, leaders, have to learn from this cohabitation of peoples and translate it into geopolitics.
Our unity would not be directed against anyone and, once again, we will not aspire to change
any borders.
We might belong to different States and live on different side of the mountains, but in terms
of human and cultural space. there is no North and South Caucasus, there is one Caucasus,
that belongs to Europe and will one day join the European family of free nations, following
the Georgian path.
We, the Caucasians. driven by legitimate or imaginary threat of annihilation from other
powers or from each other, hoped too often to be protected by neighboring empires.
This anxious search for foreign shelter has led us to subjugation. assimilation or annexation.
It has authorized foreign leaders to artificially emphasize and manipulate our divisions.
8
We - Caucasian people - we all made the same mistake through History.
It is time to change.
It is time to stick together, to help each other to survive and progress.
It is time to understand that our region has sufficient resources and potential for all of us.
It is time to rely on ourselves, on the human potential of our citizens, to develop our own
education system and to organize our own development.
The Caucasus is one of the birthplaces of European civilization. It is time to show that the
energy of our ancestors does not belong only to a remote past and that we have something to
give to our children and to the world.
It is time to stop fighting and weakening each other and to realize that our strength consists in
unity.
It is time, ladies and gentlemen, for unity and for peace.
It is time to stop being prisoners ofthe past and to move towards our common future.
In the past, Georgian citizens were perceiving our border with the Ottoman Empire as an
absolute threat.
Today, we have passport free customs, joint airport and free trade with Turkey.
Tomorrow, the citizens of Armenia and Azerbaidjan will be able to cross our borders without
passport.
Recently, a foreign diplomat told me that, after crossing our border with Russia, he
encountered dozens of roadblocks where local militias and FSB agents kept blocking the
passage from one valley to another, from one village to another, aggressively preventing
individuals from circulating in their own country.
It is time to replace barbwires and roadblocks by open borders and passeport-free customs, to
replace IDP camps by joint schools and universities, to replace kalashnikov by computers and
missiles by books, radios or TVs.
Ladies and gentlemen, in 2008, thousands and thousands of tanks. armed vehicles. troops and
militias crossed the Caucasian mountains, bringing destruction. death, hatred.
Now. it is time for ideas - these ideas of freedom and unity that we all cherish to cross the
same mountains. bringing hope, life and even love.
As I speak, thousands of tanks. armed vehicles and missile platforms are entrenched or
moving all across the Caucasus.
If we remain on our own. isolated from each other. they will prevail.
But if everybody holds the hand of his neighbor. if tens of millions of unarmed people stand
together. shoulder to shoulder. being the continuation of each other just like the Caucasian
mountains. then no brutal force will ever break through this chain of awakened human spirits
and this thirst for freedom.
Thank you.
Stichworte: Georgien, UN, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
source: PDF-original of the speech at the UN General Assembly
REMARKS OF H.E MIKHEIL SAAKASHVILI
PRESIDENT OF GEORGIA
THE 65th SESSION OF THE UNITED NATIONS
GENERAL ASSEMBLY
23 SEPTEMBER 2010
NEW YORK
Mr. President, Excellencies, Distinguished delegates,
It is always a great honor for me to address the annual general assembly of the United
Nations.
Ladies and gentlemen, in uncertain times like ours, cooperation is more necessary than ever.
Unless we stand together and invent new approaches to the global challenges we are all
facing, we will be tom apart by fear and self-destructive interests.
Gatherings like this one, therefore, are valuable only if they allow us to shape a common
vision for concrete actions towards peace, development solidarity, and justice.
This month, thanks to the coordinated efforts of the international community and the
leadership of President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton. direct peace talks have
resumed between Israelis and Palestinians.
They resumed precisely at a moment when many people had given up hope for a just and
lasting peace in the Middle East.
The road to peace. security. and justice is still a long one. The remaining obstacles are
enormous. But the goal is so noble and necessary that no effort should be spared.
This is why today I would like to pay tribute to all those who are taking risks for peace.
Yes, risks. Because peace is never obvious. never easy.
That is certainly true in the Middle East, and it is true in my region as well.
One of our common goals, then, must be to enable those risk-takers who have the courage to
defy conventional wisdom and forge new paths to peace.
Peace is not an easy way. But peace is the only way.
As the President of a young democracy that recently suffered from war and invasion and is
still under partial occupation by a nuclear superpower-I can say this: peace is our most
precious common goal and. at the same time. our only path towards the other goals we share.
To those here. and in my own country who see no way to reverse the armed occupation or
reduce regional tensions. I say: peace is not only the goal, it is also the means to any goal.
Today. ladies and gentlemen. my region is at a crossroads.
For too long. it has suffered from division. injustice. conflict. colonization. and violence.
Today. however. change is possible. In fact. change is already taking place.
I came here to speak about this change and to promote a specific vision - a vision for a free.
stable and united Caucasus.
From Pushkin, Lermontov or Tolstoy's times till now. the Caucasian mountains were a
symbol of wilderness and paradoxes. a region where individuals and souls were
fundamentally free. but where citizens were politically oppressed. where people and cultures
were deeply tolerant but where governments and authorities created artificial divisions. where
shepherds would cross 5000 meters high mountains. but where rulers erected walls nobody
could cross.
I came here today to tell you that these times are vanishing. that the dream of unity and peace
is possible.
When I addressed you two years ago - in the aftermath of a full-scale invasion and when
Russian Foreign Minister was openly threatening Georgia of total annihilation - few people
believed that our country would survive as an independent and democratic state.
Few people thought that our government would endure-that our economy would survive the
war and the global crisis-that our reforms could continue with renewed vigor-or that we
would make steady progress toward the European Union and Euro-Atlantic structures.
Well. I am proud to tell you. two years later. that we have succeeded against the odds.
Thanks to the commitment of the Georgian people and to the support of our friends and allies.
Today. Georgia is back.
Georgia is back. first as a laboratory for political reform and social transformation.
2
More than ever, we are committed to the promise at the heart ofthe Rose Revolution-to turn
a failed state into a modern European one.
Our local elections last May were proof of that transformation and a
democracy, the result of seven years of patient, constant.
milestone for our
tireless reform.
This effort, of course, has to go on-and it will go on because a great deal remains to be done.
Our objective is clear: to create a more institutionalized system of liberal democratic
governance.
Ladies and gentlemen, my term as president ends in 2013 and these changes will survive my
presidency and the current government.
Because we are not only speaking about changes of leadership or reforms of institutions, we
are speaking about something deeper and stronger-something that The Economist of London
recently characterized as Georgia's "mental revolution."
The Georgian people have tasted freedom, the absence of corruption, the fruits of economic
development, the emergence of a true meritocracy. They have changed their behavior, their
vision of the world, their dreams even, and they will mightily resist any attempts to reverse
these changes-no matter if those attempts come from inside or from abroad.
This is our great victory: we helped to create something that goes far beyond the leaders and
parties that led the Rose Revolution. We helped to create a revolution of the heart and the
mind.
Once one of the most corrupt countries of the post-Soviet world, Georgia has made greater
gains in the fight against corruption, as measured by Transparency International, than any
other country over the past five years.
Once a place where foreign investors were kidnapped by gangs and mafias, Georgia is now
ranked by the World Bank as number II for the ease of doing business in the world a
ranking we hope to further improve this year.
These rankings make clear why Georgia's only interest is a peaceful resolution of conflicts:
Georgia is winning the peace-Georgia is winning through peace.
Our northern neighbor expected us to change our path when it imposed on us a full embargo
in 2006. invaded us in 2008. ethnically cleansed Georgian regions and illegally occupied 20%
of our territory. an occupation that continues to this day.
All these actions had one objective: to destroy the Georgian laboratory of political. economic.
and social reform-to prevent the region from changing.
We answered these relentless attacks by reinvigorating our reforms. opening our economy
even more. and accelerating our social transformation.
3
This is our policy and no provocation will ever make us change it.
Thanks to this commitment to reform, Georgia is now a responsible international player.
I am proud that my nation is fighting international terrorism in Afghanistan. I would like to
pay tribute here to our nearly 1,000 soldiers who are risking their lives every day to help the
Afghan people secure a stable, terror-free future.
I want to pay a special tribute today to company commander, First Lieutenant Mukhran
Shukvani. Earlier this month, Mukhran was killed in the cause of peace, while serving
alongside NATO forces in the dangerous Helmand province of Afghanistan.
We are fighting other common scourges, too, focusing especially on the terrible danger of
nuclear trafficking. Many times over the past seven years, we have intercepted criminals who
had in their possession the essential ingredients for nuclear devices. Every step of the way, we
have cooperated with our allies in the international community to ensure that Georgia is doing
everything possible to confront this global danger.
Here I must pause to bring your attention to a grave problem that results from the partial
occupation of my country-a problem everybody should worry about, even those who
overlook international law, forget 500 000 lOPS and refugees, dismiss repeated assaults on
basic human rights, civil liberties, and the environment.
I am speaking of the lawlessness bred by the Russian occupation. Our two occupied regions
exist in a black hole of governance. Today, in these lands, criminals act with impunity. The
most elemental human rights are abused. Drugs and weapons are smuggled. People are
trafficked. And potential weapons of mass destruction are moved in and out of these
territories, posing a threat to us all.
Three days ago. we met in this very place to discuss the Millennium Development Goals and
our progress in meeting them over the past decade. I won't tire you with a recitation of our
efforts to achieve the MDGs-the strides we have made in halving our poverty rate,
reforming our educational system and improving health care.
But I will tell you that these successes remain bittersweet for me because they cannot be
savored by all the people of Georgia.
Not by those who live in fear for their basic rights in the occupied territories. nor fully by
these 500 000 lOPs and refugees who were expelled from their homes.
Ladies and gentlemen, for the last two years. the Russian Federation has been violating the
cease fire agreement broke red on 12 August 2008. by my good friend French President
Nicolas Sarkozy. who was acting at the time on behalfofthe European Union.
The Russian army has not withdrawn as required by the cease fire. European Union monitors
cannot enter Russian-occupied areas. where a constant military buildup is taking place.
Hundreds of thousands of lOPs. victims of the ethnic cleansing campaign led by the Russian
forces. are still prevented from returning to their homes.
4
How did Georgia respond to these violations of international law and human rights?
We answered with patience and calm.
We implemented-fully-the ceasefire agreement and went beyond our obligations, without
ever using as a pretext Russia's refusal to comply.
Last month, the head of the European Union Monitoring Mission. Ambassador Haber,
publicly praised Georgian policy as "constructive unilateralism."
What does "constructive unilateralism" mean?
It refers for instance to our calm when FSB supported militias killed our policemen at the
occupation line or to our willingness to free criminals working for the occupation regime
when the other side was kidnapping teenagers who wanted only to visit their empty house.
"Constructive unilateral ism" means that we behave in a civilized and patient way. even when
our enemy uses barbaric methods or implements an impulsive and irrational policy.
It means that - even if peace requires both sides to come to the table of negotiations - you can
pave the way to peace on your own.
This "constructive unilateral ism" is based on the idea that peace is in the supreme interest of
Georgia, that peace is the only path to the de-occupation of our country.
It forms the substance of the strategy on occupied territories that my government has put in
motion to engage the populations held hostage by the Russian occupiers. on the other side of
the New Iron Curtain that illegally divides our country.
Walls like the one dividing Georgia will not be brought down by bombs, but by the
commitment of citizens to build a free, united country-and by the commitment of the world
community to enforce international law and the principles of the UN Charter.
This commitment is expressed in the refusal of nearly the entire world to legitimize the
Russian occupation by recognizing the so-called independence of Abkhazia and the
Tskhinvali region. a de facto annexation of Georgian territories by the Russian Federation.
It is noticeable that. despite enormous pressure and multiple threats from Moscow. not a
single former soviet republic has recognized this dismemberment of Georgia.
It shows-to the great surprise and fury of those who describe the fall of the Soviet Empire as
the worst catastrophe of the zo" century-that the old times are definitely over.
It shows that the change I evoked earlier already has taken root.
It shows that the former captive nations of the Soviet times became strong independent states
that can determine their own policies.
It is noticeable-and it is noticed in Moscow.
5
Ladies and gentlemen, I solemnly call today on those three, isolated UN member states that
recognized Russia's de facto annexation of our territories and legitimized the Russian led
ethnic cleansing campaigns to reverse their decision,
It is never too late to overturn a bad policy, The dismemberment of Georgia has failed
categorically - and even the Russian Federation will one day need to reverse its disastrous
policy.
Imagine how uncomfortable these three isolated leaders from faraway countries will be when
Moscow itself chooses to comply with international law and withdraw its troops?
Because, ladies and gentlemen, that day will come.
Those who claimed a military victory in 2008 now face a diplomatic and political defeat. And,
in Moscow, the occupation and annexation will soon be debated. They are in fact already
debated in the corridors of the Kremlin.
Because this situation is not sustainable, even for the Russian leadership.
We have now, in our country, Russian soldiers deserting their units and fleeing to the
Georgian side through the Wall erected by their superiors.
Just like Soviet soldiers did in Berlin during the Cold War.
In which sense is History moving? Certainly not in the sense of those who can deploy
thousands of tanks but who cannot even take care of their soldiers or prevent them from
fleeing.
Ladies and gentlemen. those who refuse to modernize their society and to open their political
system might have an interest in war or instability.
But in Georgia. we know and we have always known that peace is our interest- the very
precondition of our survival and our success.
Ladies and gentlemen. I have three calls to make today:
My first call is addressed to my fellow citizens of Abkhaz and Ossetian origins who live
behind the New Iron Curtain that divides our common nation. I want to tell them once again:
we will protect your rights. your culture. your history-we will work with you. we will work
./01' you.
You are part ofa common history. a common culture. and a common future. Your differences
enrich our proud national tapestry.
Rather than succumb to annexation by the Russian Empire. we invite you to build together
with us a multicultural and multiethnic society that would be a regional model for tolerance
and respect.
I dream about the day when an Abkhaz or Ossetian citizen of Georgia - as it happened several
times in our common history - will become President of a reunited. democratic and European
Georgia.
6
And this dream will become possible in a reunited and free Georgia, a Georgia that would
build positive relations and even intense cooperation with the Russian Federation.
A Russian Federation acting as a rational international player and not as a revisionist power.
A Russian Federation that will have chosen cooperation instead of occupation, union of
markets rather than embargoes, tolerance instead of crackdowns.
My second call is, therefore, to the Russian leadership: you face a choice.
Either you take a major part in this ongoing transformation of our common region, accepting
other countries as partners and not vassals.
Or this transformation will happen without you.
We all want-I personally want-Russia as a partner and not as an enemy.
That is why the Georgian government supports the reset policy of the United States and the
European Union's engagement with Russia.
Nobody has a greater stake than us in seeing Russia turn into a country that truly operates
within the concert of nations, respects international law, and-this is often connectedupholds
basic human rights.
I want to tell the Russian people that they will always be welcome in Georgia, as tourists, as
students, as businessmen, as journalists or simply as friends. Not as occupation forces.
And I want to tell the Russian leaders that they should care more about their citizens and less
about our diplomatic orientation, more about developing the Northern Caucasus - a region
that is exploding as I speak - than about undermining our development.
They are welcome to come too if they want, in order to understand how a post-soviet society
can turn into a European one.
I invite them to come, with notebooks rather than with missiles, with ipads rather than
kalashnikov's,
I was pleased to notice that some of our reforms inspired a few recent presidential speeches in
Moscow.
Instead of fighting each other, we should excel together in modernizing our common region.
And instead of secretly copying or envying our reforms, they should cooperate with us in
order to build a stable and free area.
Because. by looking over the best pupil's shoulder. one might not get the full picture of what
modernization means.
And allow me to say that the complete picture is rather simple: you cannot achieve lasting
stability and prosperity without respecting some basic principles.
Modernization without freedom is not sustainable and you cannot hope to diversify and
develop your economy when you send your most successful businessmen to the Gulag. like
Mikheil Khodorkovski.
Computers are not enough if you do not have free minds to use them.
So let us free our minds from our common soviet past in order to build a common future.
My third call goes to all of you. to the international community: help us to secure peace. in
Georgia. but also in our broader region.
We Georgians have learned tragically how a so-called frozen conflict can very quickly
become a hot one.
If there is clear support from the international community. I am convinced that a lasting peace
can be secured in the Caucasus.
I am convinced that if the world shows the same commitment to a peaceful resolution of
conflicts in my region than in other parts of the world. we can accomplish wonders.
It is in everybody's interest to see this strategic region. this crossroads of civilizations.
become more stable. prosperous. and open.
7
Ladies and gentlemen, History has taught us that wars can erupt quickly - but also that brave
leaders can secure peace where and when nobody would ever believe that conflicts could be
resolved.
History has taught us that regions that were torn apart by armed conflicts and contaminated by
hate - starting with Europe - can achieve lasting peace through cooperation, interdependence
and unity.
History has taught us that dreams are often more realistic than resignation.
I strongly believe that a common market, shared interests, and political and economic
interdependence will one day give birth to a united Caucasus. That is what I am calling for
today.
We share a similar history of oppression, but we have also in common a deep, essential and
undefeated aspiration for freedom.
Let us capitalize on this aspiration. Our region will never be truly free if it is not united.
It will of course require a long and difficult series of efforts and gestures, from all of us, but
the objective is worth every sacrifice.
As it happened a long time ago with the European Union - this amazing geopolitical
revolution we aspire to join one day - the historical move towards Caucasian unity will start
with concrete projects, in the energy sector, in the education and the cultural fields, in the civil
society spheres.
We should begin with more people to people exchanges. It is time we get to know each other
and forge links that will bring us together without changing existing boarders.
Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished delegates, my birth town and our capital. Tbilisi. is
inhabited by Caucasians from every religion and from every ethnicity. Altogether, these
people form a living example of tolerance and cooperation.
We, leaders, have to learn from this cohabitation of peoples and translate it into geopolitics.
Our unity would not be directed against anyone and, once again, we will not aspire to change
any borders.
We might belong to different States and live on different side of the mountains, but in terms
of human and cultural space. there is no North and South Caucasus, there is one Caucasus,
that belongs to Europe and will one day join the European family of free nations, following
the Georgian path.
We, the Caucasians. driven by legitimate or imaginary threat of annihilation from other
powers or from each other, hoped too often to be protected by neighboring empires.
This anxious search for foreign shelter has led us to subjugation. assimilation or annexation.
It has authorized foreign leaders to artificially emphasize and manipulate our divisions.
8
We - Caucasian people - we all made the same mistake through History.
It is time to change.
It is time to stick together, to help each other to survive and progress.
It is time to understand that our region has sufficient resources and potential for all of us.
It is time to rely on ourselves, on the human potential of our citizens, to develop our own
education system and to organize our own development.
The Caucasus is one of the birthplaces of European civilization. It is time to show that the
energy of our ancestors does not belong only to a remote past and that we have something to
give to our children and to the world.
It is time to stop fighting and weakening each other and to realize that our strength consists in
unity.
It is time, ladies and gentlemen, for unity and for peace.
It is time to stop being prisoners ofthe past and to move towards our common future.
In the past, Georgian citizens were perceiving our border with the Ottoman Empire as an
absolute threat.
Today, we have passport free customs, joint airport and free trade with Turkey.
Tomorrow, the citizens of Armenia and Azerbaidjan will be able to cross our borders without
passport.
Recently, a foreign diplomat told me that, after crossing our border with Russia, he
encountered dozens of roadblocks where local militias and FSB agents kept blocking the
passage from one valley to another, from one village to another, aggressively preventing
individuals from circulating in their own country.
It is time to replace barbwires and roadblocks by open borders and passeport-free customs, to
replace IDP camps by joint schools and universities, to replace kalashnikov by computers and
missiles by books, radios or TVs.
Ladies and gentlemen, in 2008, thousands and thousands of tanks. armed vehicles. troops and
militias crossed the Caucasian mountains, bringing destruction. death, hatred.
Now. it is time for ideas - these ideas of freedom and unity that we all cherish to cross the
same mountains. bringing hope, life and even love.
As I speak, thousands of tanks. armed vehicles and missile platforms are entrenched or
moving all across the Caucasus.
If we remain on our own. isolated from each other. they will prevail.
But if everybody holds the hand of his neighbor. if tens of millions of unarmed people stand
together. shoulder to shoulder. being the continuation of each other just like the Caucasian
mountains. then no brutal force will ever break through this chain of awakened human spirits
and this thirst for freedom.
Thank you.
Stichworte: Georgien, UN, Sprache: englisch, Archiv: #
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