PRESIDENT SAYS GEORGIA WILL NOT BE COWED BY RUSSIAN “BLACKMAIL”
Rustavi-2 TV, Tbilisi
5 May 06
[Presenter] President Mikheil Saakashvili, who has just returned from
Vilnius, has commented on Georgian-Russian relations. He made these
comments on the way to the Armenian Embassy in Tbilisi.
[Saakashvili] Our nation should show courage and firmness. In
absolutely no circumstances should we show these people frightened
faces or any kind of retreat because as soon as they see that, as
soon as they smell blood, they will devour us. We will not show them
our weaknesses. This is not just the government’s task, it is a task
for all of us, the Georgian people. So far the Georgian people have
shown that they do not intend to be cowed by blackmail.
We want neighbourly, warm, equal relations with Russia. I have just
return from Lithuania, which faced the same sort of pressure in the
1990s, yet today Lithuania lives three or four times better than
Russia does with all its oil and gas. That is a lesson for us. A
strong nation stood together, they did not pick on each other, but
they were able to withstand this pressure. I think we will be able
to do it more easily than the Lithuanians because we have already
created some kind of economic basis, we have already found markets.
These days it is no longer so easy for them to talk to Lithuania
in that kind of language. Now they are using it on us. I think the
Baltic States and Eastern Europe should be an example to everyone
that such threats only strengthen and consolidate every proud nation.
I do not think there is a single politician in Russia who doubts that
Georgia is a proud nation. It is much easier to get on with a proud
nation if you treat it calmly, with friendship, outstretched hands
and courtesy. When have we ever refused that?