TOWARDS A BREAK. GEORGIA RESORTS TO EXTREME DIPLOMATIC MEASURES
by Mikhail Vignanskiy in Tbilisi and by Ivan Solovyev
Vremya Novostey
Sept 1 2008
Russia
The severance of diplomatic relations between Georgia and Russia is
the next step towards the disintegration of the once close friendly
ties that united the peoples of the former USSR. This week Georgia
will embark on the fulfilment of the parliamentarians’ 28 August
decree in which it is proposed that the executive break off relations
with Russia as an "occupying" country. There is already a precedent
for the absence of diplomatic relations between post-Soviet states –
after the bloody conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh Azerbaijan and Armenia
never did exchange embassies. However, the severance of previously
established diplomatic relations between two former Soviet republics
is happening for the first time.
Georgian Ambassador to Russia Erosi Kitsmarishvili was recalled to
Tbilisi for consultations back in 10 July, almost a month before the
start of hostilities in South Ossetia. As the Georgian Foreign Ministry
explained to Vremya Novostey, a charge d’affaires and one other
diplomat are currently working at the Georgian Embassy in Moscow. The
other staffers, of whom there were 12, have already been recalled to
the homeland. A note on the severance of diplomatic relations has not
yet been handed to Georgian Ambassador to Russia Vyacheslav Kovalenko –
it cannot be ruled out that this will be done today [ 1 September].
Previously Georgian Foreign Minister Ekaterina Tkeshelashvili had
claimed that two diplomats would remain in Moscow. At the same time
Georgian Minister of State for Reintegration Temuri Yakobashvili
said that it would be possible not to break off relations but to
"reduce them to a minimum." But later Tbilisi decided to resort to
extreme measures. "We regret this step on the part of the Georgian
side. It will not benefit our bilateral relations," Andrey Nesterenko,
official spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, stated. He noted
that Russia considers it important to maintain diplomatic channels
for contacts with Georgia: "Without this channel of communication,
we will experience difficulties in conveying our views to each other."
There will not be a complete cessation of contacts as yet – while
severing diplomatic relations, Georgia will retain a consulate in
Moscow to serve the interests of its citizens and compatriots. At
the Georgian Foreign MinistryVremya Novostey was told that the
consul and two vice consuls will continue to work in the Russian
capital. Georgia will demand that the Russian side reduce the number
of its staffers similarly. In this context Vladimir Chizhov, Russia’s
permanent representative to the EU, observed that Tbilisi has chosen
an "unusual version" of restricting diplomatic ties with Moscow,
since Georgia is retaining consular functions, which are actually
part of diplomatic functions.
Aleksandr Savinov, press attache at the Russian Embassy in Georgia,
told Vremya Novostey yesterday: "At the moment we are operating as
before. Georgia’s statements about severance have not been confirmed
by the corresponding note as of now." The Russian Embassy building
in Georgia is located on the street named for a hero of the Georgian
uprising against Soviet power in the 1920s, Kakutsa Cholokashvili. In
recent days pickets of people who are unhappy with Moscow’s policy
have gathered there every day. At the moment Georgian journalists
are on duty there, hoping not to miss the moment when the diplomats
start packing their bags.
At the Georgian Foreign Ministry Vremya Novostey was told that they
are conducting talks with a number of countries that could represent
Tbilisi’s interests in Moscow after the closure of the Georgian
Embassy in Russia: "For instance, there is no Japanese Embassy in
Georgia, but Japan’s interests are represented in our country by that
country’s embassy in Armenia. And Kuwait’s interests in Georgia are
represented by the Kuwaiti Embassy in Romania." The Foreign Ministry
did not clarify precisely which countries Georgia is talking with in
the "Russian salient," but there have been leaks to the press that
it could be Ukraine.
In Washington, White House Press Secretary Dana Perino stated that
the United States is "not surprised" at George’s decision to sever
diplomatic relations with Russia. Meanwhile Germany expressed regret
at this decision by Georgia.
>>From 8 September Georgia is changing the rules for issuing visas
to Russian citizens. Previously Russian citizens could obtain
Georgian visas on crossing the Georgian border – for a 90-day stay
in the country you had to pay approximately $30. From next Monday
visas will no longer be issued at the border, nor will there be any
tourist visas. From now on Georgia will receive only those Russian
citizens who are travelling in order to meet with family members,
for humanitarian purposes, or on an official or business visit. As
Vremya Novostey was told at the Georgian diplomatic department,
citizens of Russia may apply to the consulate in Moscow for a visa,
bringing the original invitation.
Moscow abandoned the visa-free regime back in 2000, suspecting Georgia
of conniving with the sending of gunmen into Chechnya. In 2006, after
the detention of four Russian officers in Tbilisi on suspicion of
espionage, Russia temporarily tightened the entry rules. Later there
were certain relaxations, but the issuing of the most in-demand visas,
tourist visas, was not resumed.
Political expert Zurab Abashidze, who held the post of Georgian
ambassador to Russia in 2000-2004, in an interview for Vremya Novostey,
explained Tbilisi’s decision to sever diplomatic relations with Moscow
in terms of the "extremely high degree of tension in relations." He
speculated that restoring diplomatic relations after a while "will be
difficult, but possible." For example, when there were no diplomatic
relations between the USSR and Israel, Israel’s interests in Moscow
were partially represented by the Netherlands, but later "everything
was sorted out."
Our interlocutor commented that "one can speak of several hundred
thousand people originally from Georgia who now live in Russia, but
the majority of them took Russian citizenship after Russia introduced
the visa regime." "Until now I have travelled easily to visit Mom in
Tbilisi and obtained a visa at the border," Moscow businessman Mikhail
K., who was born and raised in Tbilisi but has Russian citizenship,
told Vremya Novostey. "My friends from Georgia envied me, they could
not travel to Moscow so easily. Now there will be much more of a
headache from all this bureaucracy."
Along with the severance of diplomatic relations, Georgia stated that
it deems the basic agreement on the Georgian-Abkhazian settlement
signed in Moscow 14 May 1994 to have lost its force. It was on the
basis of this document that Russian peacekeeping forces were sent
into the conflict zone under CIS auspices. Tbilisi will henceforth be
guided by the Georgian Parliament’s decrees "On Peacekeeping Forces
Stationed in Georgian Territory" of 18 July 2006 (at that time it was
proposed that the executive declare the "blue berets" to be outside
the law, but that decision was not put into practice) and "On the
Occupation of Georgian Territories by the Russian Federation" of 28
August 2008. In this context the Georgian Government stated that it
remains true to the six-point agreement reached in August through
the mediation of French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
From: Baghdasarian