PRESIDENT DISMISSES CLAIMS OVER LARSI REOPENING
By Mzia Kupunia

The Messenger
March 3 2010
Georgia

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has hailed the opening of
Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi border crossing point and downplayed criticism
from some of his opponents that the opening of a land checkpoint with
Russia could bear a danger for Georgia.

"It will be the only legal border point on our territory [with Russia]
and by reopening this the Russian side indirectly recognises that
the total embargo policy, begun in 2005, has not been successful,"
the President’s press speaker Manana Manjgaladze said at a special
press briefing on Tuesday. "The President thinks that it is better
to have legal relations with Russia at least on this one section,
to have a controlled state border where everything will be done
according to the Georgian legislation," she added.

The Kazbegi-Zemo Larsi checkpoint opened on March 1 after brief
Armenian and Swiss-mediated negotiations between the Georgian and
the Russian sides last year. The decision to reopen a border crossing
point with Russia has met with a varied reaction in Georgian political
circles. Opposition Christian Democratic Movement MPs have criticised
the move, saying that the opening could endanger the residents of
Kazbegi region due to "insufficient" security measures at the crossing
point. Saakashvili’s press speaker responded to these claims by saying
that a closed border with armed guards at the checkpoint was a bigger
threat than an open and legal border. "A tollbar has provided much
less security than the open state border, secured with all means of
control and all legal levers, did," Manjgaladze told journalists.

Manjgaladze said that the statements of some opposition politicians
and analysts that the Kazbegi region might share the same fate
as the Akhalgori region are part of a "psychological war" aimed at
influencing the Georgian population, investors and the development of
the country in general. "As for the claims that Russia has towards
Stepantsminda and Kobi-Gudauri, it should be noted that The Kremlin
has the similar claims towards the whole of Georgia and its capital
as well," Manjgaladze stated.

The press speaker touched upon the issue of the Georgian-Russian
relations, saying that reopening the land border with Russia does not
mean improving relations with Moscow. "The negotiations were being
held through the Swiss Embassy, which means they were not direct
negotiations and do not imply an improvement in relations. It is hard
to talk about there being any relations when the Russian Government
does not recognise the democratically elected Government of Georgia,
Georgia’s state border or sovereignty and is trying to legitimise
the creation of 500,000 IDPs and ethnic cleansing," Manjgaladze said.

"Warming" and restoring relations with Moscow can only happen if
Russia leaves Georgia’s occupied territories, Manjgaladze quoted
President Saakashvili as saying.

Movement through the checkpoint has not been intensive so far,
according to Russian officials. 6 people had crossed from both sides
since it opened, RIA Novosti reported on March 2, based on information
provided by the head of the Press Service of the Russian Federal
Security Service’s North Ossetian Border Department Alexander Solod.

Two, citizens of Uzbekistan and Russia, crossed the border from the
Georgian side, and the other four, citizens of Russia, Uzbekistan and
Georgia, crossed from the Russian side, Solod said, according to RIA
Novosti. An increase in the flow of people on the Russian-Georgian
border is expected by May, according to the Russian Federal Security
Service North Ossetian Border Department officials.